West Ilirea Public High School
by Dagibsta
Summary: Eragon and his friends face their hardest challenge yet: high school! Follow all of the ups and downs of their typical teenage lives, complete with lots of drama!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, it's been a while. This is a concept that I've been thinking about for a while, so I swear I didn't copy the guy who just posted about inheritance high school yesterday.**

**PS this was inspired by The Girl Next Door by LoveBirdsJATE (a Lost fanfiction).**

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><p>Beep. Beep. Beep.<p>

Out of the darkness shot a hand, striking the clock over and over until it stopped buzzing. "Ughhhhh," moaned the tangled mass of blankets and sheets as he pulled a pillow over his head.

"Eragon, get your lazy butt out of bed before I do it for you," boomed a voice from downstairs. Annoyed, the teenage boy threw off his blanket and slowly sat up.

"I'm awake Uncle Garrow!" Eragon said groggily. Throwing on a shirt, he slipped out of bed and trudged down the stairs. With eyes still half open, he entered the kitchen, and grabbing an enormous mixing bowl, began to fill it with four different types of cereal.

"Nice sweats," smirked another boy seated at the table. Looking down, Eragon saw his plaid pajama bottoms spotted with various dragons.

"Shut up, Roran. You're just jealous that you don't have a pair," Eragon shot back. Turning his attention back to the cereal, he dumped half a gallon of milk into the mixture and began to eat with a gigantic spoon.

"Geez, Eragon, leave some for the rest of us," joked a middle aged man who strode into the room. "There are some kids in Africa who don't eat that much in an entire year," he teased with a faint smile. All he got in response was a muffled grunt from the sleepy teenage boy.

"Well, hurry up, boys. Don't wanna be late on your first day of school!"

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><p>Water poured though Eragon's hair and down his body. Steam rose from the shower, clouding the adjacent mirror. However, Eragon paid no attention to this; instead, he was pondering the upcoming year.<p>

_How the heck am I supposed to pass any of my classes?_ He thought, before turning his attention to his social life. _I hope my friends and I don't grow apart._

Finally, his musings turned to one specific individual. An image began to form in Eragon's mind, that of a beautiful, black haired girl, with striking green eyes. _I want to be with her so badly,_ he thought.

Shutting off the water and his worries, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off with a towel. Picking up a pair of jeans, he began to get dressed.

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><p>"There should be a law against getting up this early," complained Eragon from the passenger's seat of the old truck. Country music blared from the speakers, mixing with the sound of car horns outside.<p>

"Oh get over it," said Roran as he swung into a parking spot. The two boys hopped out of the truck and began their journey towards the doors of the school.

Dozens of voices greeted the pair as they entered the old school. Girls ran to each other, squealing in high pitched voices and hugging each other. Guys greeted other with chill fist pumps and handshakes. Meanwhile, Roran and Eragon headed over to a small cluster of kids on the opposite side of the commons area they had just entered.

"Dude, Orik, what up?" said Eragon to a short boy in the group.

"Bro, what up yourself! How have you been?" boomed the stocky yet vertically challenged boy. Despite his small stature, thick muscles ran down his arms, giving a comical, yet intimidating appearance.

With a chuckle, Eragon responded. "I'm just glad I'm a sophomore this year and I don't have to worry about being hazed!" Unpleasant memories of having his head shoved into a toilet rushed into his mind.

"I wouldn't get too comfortable..." joked a shaggy, black haired kid from behind him. Eragon smiled as he turned around to face the person.

"Murtagh! I haven't seen you in forever!" exclaimed Eragon, approaching Murtagh, who along with Roran, was a junior. Eragon was interrupted, however, as a body came flying into him.

"Saphira...can't...breathe," grunted Eragon to the blonde haired, blue eyed girl who had wrapped him in a bear hug.

"Sorry," muttered Saphira, blushing, as he extricated himself from her arms. "What's my best friend been doing while I've been traveling the world?" Saphira inquired, who had spent the summer traveling around the world with her parents. Eragon and Saphira had known each other their entire lives, and were inseparable friends.

"Oh, you know, the usual," responded Eragon. "Lots of eating and sleepi-" Suddenly, he stopped speaking, instead opting to stare into the distance.

"Hey idiot, what were you going to say?" mocked Roran, before he looked at his younger cousin and saw the expression on his face. Eragon stood deathly still, his mouth hanging open, with absolute wonder in his features. Everyone laughed as they saw what he was looking at.

A tall, thin girl with raven locks of hair and emerald green eyes walked through the doors. "It's her!" gasped Eragon. "Arya Drottning, the queen of West Ilirea High School!"

"Bro, you know that she's still going out with Faolin, the captain of varsity basketball," pointed out Orik with a smug grin. "They've been going out since last Christmas."

"Plus, dude, she's a senior, a whole two years older than you," added Murtagh, much to Eragon's annoyance.

"And her mom is one of the most successful fashion designers in the world," added Saphira with a grin.

"No need to crush my dreams," he retorted. "There is always a chance," he said dreamily. However, he continued to gawk at her for an additional minute before a shrill bell cut through the air.

"Crap!" yelled Eragon as he started to run down the halls. "I'll see you guys at lunch!"

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><p>The next four hours passed impossibly slow for Eragon. Every class went the same: go over the syllabus and rules, and do stupid "get to know each other" activities. Finally, lunchtime rolled around. With a sack lunch in hand, he strolled into the chaotic lunchroom.<p>

Unique cliques and groups were scattered all over the cafeteria. In the corner were the jocks, including Faolin. Mixing with the jocks were the cheerleaders and popular girls. In another corner sat the skaters and druggies. In yet another section sat the nerds, discussing their schoolwork.

And then there was Eragon's group of friends. Roran, Murtagh, Saphira, Orik, Thorn, Nasuada: each were fundamentally different, yet they all got along well with each other. Finding them seated in the middle of the room, Eragon made his way over to them.

"...and then the cops started chasing me. I had to hop three different fences just to lose them," Eragon heard Thorn say as he sat down. Everyone burst out in laughter at his story.

Eragon stared at the jock corner as he bit into his turkey sandwich. To his chagrin, he spotted Arya and Faolin sharing kisses and feeding each other lunch. His blood began to boil, and he was so intent on watching them that he didn't even hear Saphira speaking to him.

"Eragon!" she shouted into his ear, causing him to jump and look over at her. "I said, what classes do you have after lunch?"

"Just chemistry with Mrs. Angela and then art," Eragon responded. The others nodded in recognition and began to talk about their schedules. Meanwhile, Eragon turned his attention back to the corner...

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><p>RING!<p>

Eragon slipped into the art room just as the bell rang. After mumbling his apologies to the teacher, Mr. Solembum, he looked at the seating chart on the board. The rest of the class was already seated and chatting.

_This has got to be a joke_, he thought to himself as he read the chart. Walking to his designated seat, however, he saw that it was no joke. Sitting next to him was the girl of his dreams, Arya.

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><p><strong>So, should I continue? Let me know.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks to all the reviewers. Hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 2

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><p>Previously...<p>

_This has got to be a joke_, Eragon thought to himself as he read the chart. Walking to his designated seat, however, he saw that it was no joke. Sitting next to him was the girl of his dreams, Arya.

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><p>His heart was beating a million miles an hour as he made his way to his seat. He still couldn't wrap his mind around it: Arya, the girl he had been crushing on for who knows how long, was sitting within three feet of him.<p>

As he sat down, he turned to Arya, gave her a small grin, and said, "Hey, I'm Eragon." As soon as the words left his mouth, he thought, _Gosh, that sounded so stupid. She must think I'm a total idiot. _

However, to his surprise, he smiled back and said simply, "I'm Arya." Giving a silent sigh of relief, he turned his attention to the front of the room, where the teacher had started speaking.

"Welcome to Foundations of Art," drawled the teacher. "Let's begin with a little bit about myself..." Eragon's attention quickly shifted from the approaching monologue to the beauty sitting beside him.

Arya was dressed casually, considering her mom was a world renowned designer. She wore tight fitting jeans which highlighted her long legs which entranced Eragon so much. On her feet she wore Nike Shox, colored in pink and white. When Eragon stole a peek, he saw a strip of skin between her shoe and ankle, making his heart beat even further. In addition to the jeans, she wore a tight fitting T-shirt, highlighting all of her curves. Her dark black hair hung over her shoulders, with her bangs tucked behind her ears.

All in all, she presented an image so attractive that Eragon found that he could barely think, let alone pay attention to anything besides Arya.

With an enormous effort, he managed to focus once again on the teacher, keeping his eyes on the board. Luckily, Arya did not seem to notice any odd behavior from him, granting him another silent sigh of relief.

Finally, he listened to what the teacher was saying. "I know this class has been a little boring so far, so we're gonna wake you guys up. I want you to work with your partner, the person sitting next to you, to make a clay model of any animal you wish. This is just for fun, so I won't be taking a grade on your artistic ability just yet," he explained.

Eragon looked over at Arya, trying not to looked too excited_. I must be the luckiest guy in the world_, he thought. _First, I sit next to her, and now we get partnered up! _

After the teacher finishing explaining the procedure, Arya looked over at him and asked, "So what animal do you wanna make?"

Eragon shrugged and responded, "I have no idea. How about you?"

Arya gave a laugh and said, "Actually, I do have an idea. What about a dragon?"

Eragon chuckled in return, thinking about his pajama bottoms. "A dragon, huh? I don't know, does that even count as an animal?" he countered, hoping his attempts at flirting weren't too obvious.

"Come on, it'll be funny. Please?" she begged, making a cute face that reminded Eragon of Puss from the Shrek movies. _Dang, how am I supposed to say no to anything when she makes a face like that?_ he thought to himself.

"Okay, I give in, let's do a dragon," he said with a chuckle. "I'll go get the clay."

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><p>"There: all done with the face," declared Eragon with a sense of pride in his voice. Beside him, Arya looked up from her work and giggled.<p>

"Aren't you going to fix the nose?" she asked.

Eragon pretended to look offended, in another attempt at flirting. "What do you mean? This nose is absolutely perfect!"

Arya began to laugh even harder. "I guess it is perfect, if you meant the nose to be the size of the Empire State Building! Here, let me fix it," she said jokingly. She reached over and grabbed the clay, despite Eragon's objections. She began to fiddle with the clay until the nose fell completely off. The two teenagers looked at each other and instantly burst into another fit of laughter. Suddenly, the ringing if the bell interrupted their laughter.

"Okay, class, put your models over here. Your homework is..." started the teacher. Eragon and Arya quickly cleaned up their supplies and headed out the door.

"I gotta go," said Arya. "See you tomorrow!" With that, she turned and walked down the hall, not giving Eragon the chance to respond.

"Yeah, tomorrow," mumbled Eragon to himself, still partially shock at having talked to Arya. He turned and weaves his way through the traffic of the halls. Finally, after shoving through dozens of annoying freshmen, he arrived at his locker and grabbed a couple of textbooks. As he shut the locker door, a face appeared behind it.

"Look what the wind blew in," joked Saphira, who was leaning against the lockers. "How's your day been?" she asked.

"Boring," said Eragon simply.

"Come on, Eragon. I've known you since kindergarten. I can tell when you're hiding something," Saphira prodded.

"Okay, you caught me. Guess who sits next to me in art?" Eragon asked.

"I don't know, Arya Drottning?" she guessed.

"Yep," gloated Eragon.

"Hey!" a voice shouted from across the hall.

"Sorry Saph, I gotta run. See ya later!" exclaimed Eragon as he ran to meet Roran.

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><p>"So, you wanna tell me why you have that goofy grin on your face?" asked Roran as the truck sped down the road.<p>

"Is it really that obvious?" inquired Eragon. Roran merely nodded and motioned for him to continue. "Fine. My partner in my art class is Arya. Happy?"

Roran laughed. "I cannot believe you got that lucky!"

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><p>Music blared from the stereo in the small bedroom. Eragon lay on his bed, papers and books strewn around him. <em>Great. It hasn't even been a day, and I already hate my math teacher. <em>

He had been doing homework for almost two hours, yet he had accomplished almost nothing. Every time he had tried to focus, his mind had returned to art class with a certain black haired beauty.

His train of though was broken as his door was opened. His uncle Garrow stood in the opening. He had lived with Garrow, Roran, and his aunt Merian for as long as he could remember. Sadly, Merian had died three years ago after a long battle with cancer.

Eragon quickly reached over and turned down the blasting music. "Someone's on the phone for you," explained Garrow, handing the phone in his hand to Eragon, who frowned in confusion. Who would be calling my home phone? he thought.

"Hello?" he said as he brought the phone up to his ear.

"Eragon?" a voice on the other end asked. Immediately, Eragon's heart rate doubled. "It's Arya, from art class."

"Oh hey Arya, what's up?" he said, trying to sound as cool and collected as possible.

"Did you hear what the homework was?" she inquired just as cooly.

"Yep. We are supposed to write a paragraph or two on the life and style of Salvador Dali," Eragon explained. "I haven't done it yet, so I have no idea what it is about," he admitted.

"Okay, thanks!" responded Arya.

"Can I ask you a question really fast?" Eragon asked. After approval from Arya, he continued. "How did you get my home number?"

He received a small giggle in response. "I looked it up in YellowPages," she explained. "Speaking of, do you have a cell phone I should be calling instead?"

Eragon could not believe what was happening. She was asking for his phone number! "Yeah, it's 867-5309," he told her.

"Great, thanks. I gotta go work on that paragraph. Goodnight!" she said before she hung up. Eragon smiled at her words. It had been a pretty good night.

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><p><strong>So, I have a basic outline of what's going to be happening in this story. I'll try to have chapter 3 up as soon as I can. And please review!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to all of the reviewers from chapters 1 and 2. Here is chapter 3. I don't know how long I can update at this rate, but I'll keep it up for as long as I can. Now, onto the chapter. This should start to introduce some potential plot events...**

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

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><p>Previously:<p>

As he sat down, he turned to Arya, gave her a small grin, and said, "Hey, I'm Eragon."

However, to his surprise, he smiled back and said simply, "I'm Arya."

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><p>"Great, thanks. I gotta go work on that paragraph. Goodnight!" she said before she hung up. Eragon smiled at her words. It had been a pretty good night.<p>

The next few days passed uneventfully. Even though it was only the beginning of September, a cold front had passed through, prompting kids to break out the hoodies and sweatshirts. Eragon did not mind the cold one bit, especially since it gave him the chance to see Arya wearing those Ugg boots that all of the girls were obsessed with.

Word of his seating arrangement in his art class quickly passed its way around his circle of friends. It had become a favorite activity among the girls to pester Eragon with questions about what he and Arya had done the previous day.

"So what did you two lovebirds do yesterday?" joked Katrina, Roran's girlfriend. She lived down the street from them, and had been going out with Roran since last year's prom.

Eragon gave an exasperated sigh. "We practiced sketching different everyday objects," he explained with annoyance in his voice.

"Ooh, did you draw a portrait of Arya?" teased Nasuada. Her dad was Mr. Ajihad, the principal of West Ilirea. In fact, Nasuada seemed to be taking after her father: she was the new junior class president.

The rest of the group laughed at the joke, as Eragon blushed in embarrassment. "No, I did not draw her, got it?" he said slowly, as if to reinforce his point.

These types of conversations seemed to occur everyday. Eragon pretended to be annoyed by the jokes when, in reality, he was secretly pleased by the fact that he was being constantly mentioned along with Arya.

However, the most interesting conversation of the week came on Thursday. Eragon was at his locker, grabbing a few books. Just as he shut his locker, a body bumped into him, throwing him against the metal doors of the lockers.

"Oh, sorry, man," said the kid who was responsible. "Someone pushed me into you." Eragon took a closer look at the guy. He was a little shorter than himself, with spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"No problem dude," Eragon responded as he turned to walk away, before he was stopped by a question.

"Wait a minute, your name's Eragon, right?" the blonde inquired.

"Yeah, how did you know that?" replied Eragon, confusion welling within him.

The boy smiled and said, "My name is Vanir. I'm friends with Arya. She was telling me about you."

Eragon gave a small smile and said, "Oh, gotcha. Yeah, I sit next to her in art class." Once again, however, he was interrupted by the minute-bell.

"I gotta run. See you around," replied Vanir, before jogging down the hall, leaving Eragon standing there, wondering what Arya had said about him.

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><p>Finally, the end of the week rolled around. Eragon was sitting in art class with Arya, working on a drawing project. "So, are you going to the basketball game tonight?" Arya asked.<p>

Eragon nodded in response. Basketball was huge at West Ilirea. Every Friday night, the majority of the student body would go see the varsity boys play. Lots of parents, even those without kids on the team, came to watch the game.

Being on the varsity team gave you instant popularity, and access to the inner circles of the jocks and cheerleaders.

"Of course I am," responded Eragon. The game that night was against the Teirm Pirates, a high school near to Ilirea. However, the game was only an exhibition match; the real season did not start for another month. "Are you?" Eragon asked.

"Yeah, Faolin wants me to go watch him," Arya explained. Eragon cringed inwardly at the mention of Faolin's name, purely out of spite

"Cool, I guess I'll see you there," replied Eragon cooly, before turning his attention back to his drawing.

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><p>HONK!<p>

"Come on Saphira! We're gonna be late!" exclaimed Roran before slamming the horn again. He and Eragon were sitting in the truck, waiting in Saphira's driveway. The basketball game against Teirm was set to begin in half an hour.

Finally, Saphira slipped out her front door and into the back of the cab.

"It's about time," said Roran rudely, while speeding out of the driveway and onto the street.

"We still have 30 minutes. Get over it," replied Saphira in a snide tone.

Five minutes later, the truck pulled into the school parking lot, which was already home to over a hundred cars. "It's gonna be a full house tonight," mentioned Eragon to nods from the other two.

The trio got out of the truck and jogged to the front doors, as a freezing wind started to blow. After navigating through a small crowd, they arrived at the entrance of the gym, which was buzzing with excitement.

"There they are!" exclaimed Saphira, pointing into the stands. Following her finger, Eragon saw Orik, Nasuada, and Murtagh saving seats for them. "Let's go sit down."

The teams were beginning to warm up as they walk towards the group. They walked in front of the team benches, where Eragon spotted Arya sitting with Faolin, who was tying his shoelaces. As he watched, she gave Faolin a kiss and a little hug. Eragon's stomach clenched in a knot, and he forced himself to turn away.

Before he could get to his seat, he was interrupted. "Hello, Eragon. It's been a while," said a voice from behind him. Eragon turned around to see the coach of the basketball team rolling towards him.

"Hello, Coach Oromis," replied Eragon. Oromis was an older man, about 60 years old. His hair had turned gray a long time ago, yet his face showed no signs of wrinkles. He was paralyzed from the waist down, and was confined to a wheelchair. However, nobody knew how he had been paralyzed. Rumor had it that he used to be a basketball star at some big college.

"I'm glad to see you come to a game finally," said Oromis in a respectful tone.

Eragon swallowed and nodded in response. "Yeah, I was able to get work off for the first week of school, while I got used to my new schedule," he explained.

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><p>"What do you think they are talking about?" Faolin asked Arya, gesturing towards Oromis and Eragon.<p>

"I have no idea, but it looks like they already know each other," observed Arya. "Why do you care?"

"I don't know, it just seems interesting," replied Faolin cryptically.

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><p>The coach looked into his eyes for a second before saying, "You know Eragon, we could use another player. I'm sure if you tried out, the guys would be glad to have you," hinted Oromis.<p>

Eragon sighed and bowed his head. "We both know why I can't play," he replied. Suddenly, a ball bounced from the end of the court, caught by Oromis. He handed it to Eragon, who, after hesitating, began to dribble it through his legs and behind his back.

"You were meant to play basketball," urged Oromis once more. Eragon stopped dribbling and picked up the ball, looking into Oromis's eyes.

"I can't do that to my family. You know that," he told the coach. Oromis merely smiled and motioned at the basket.

"You'll never know your potential if you never give it a shot," Oromis said mysteriously. Eragon looked up at the basket, then at where he was standing: he was situated at nearly half court. Sighing, he grabbed the ball, and in perfect form, shot it towards the hoop.

The ball soared through the air and landed directly in the hoop, not even grazing the rim. Eragon turned back and smiled sadly at the coach. "I'm sorry, but I can't," he said before turning around and walking to where his friends waited.

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><p>"Holy crap!" exclaimed Faolin as he watched Eragon sink his shot. "He just hit a 40 foot shot like it was nothing!"<p>

"It looks like there's more to Eragon than meets the eye," Arya observed.

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><p>The game was a blowout. Because of Coach Oromis's coaching style of passing the ball, the Teirm Pirates had trouble playing any kind of defense. Faolin had led all scorers with 25 points.<p>

As Eragon and Roran drove home, Eragon couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong in his life. He had a nagging suspicion that it had something to do with the conversation he had with Oromis.

"You still want to play, don't you?" asked Roran, looking over at Eragon, who hadn't spoken since they had dropped off Saphira.

Eragon chuckles in response. "Am I that easy to read?" he replied, as his laugh faded away into silence.

"I can talk to Dad about it," Roran offered in a sympathetic tone.

"No, I know what needs to be done," Eragon replied. "If I play and stop working after school, we're gonna lose the house. I'm not that selfish."

Roran looked over at him and smiled. "I don't care what anyone says about you. You're a good kid," he said, grinning.

"Thanks, Roran," Eragon replied before turning his gaze a the passing scenery.

"One good thing did come out of tonight, though," Roran joked. "Arya couldn't take her eyes off of you!"

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be pretty emotional, so get ready! And please review!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter! Seriously, I have no idea how I am writing these chapters so fast. Like I said last chapter, this one is pretty emotional/tragic. Please let me know how you like this new development, this will set up the rest of the story, and I bet a lot of you can probably figure out where it is headed. Thanks again to all of the reviewers!**

Chapter 4

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><p>Previously...<p>

"You were meant to play basketball," urged Oromis once more. Eragon stopped dribbling and picked up the ball, looking into Oromis's eyes.

"I can't do that to my family. You know that," he told the coach. Oromis merely smiled and motioned at the basket.

"You'll never know your potential if you never give it a shot," Oromis said mysteriously. Eragon looked up at the basket, then at where he was standing: he was situated at nearly half court. Sighing, he grabbed the ball, and in perfect form, shot it towards the hoop.

The ball soared through the air and landed directly on the hoop, not even grazing the rim. Eragon turned back and smiled sadly at the coach. "I'm sorry, but I can't," he said before turning around and walking to where his friends waited.

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><p>Eragon glanced down at his watch. 5:34 PM. He gave an enormous sigh, and tried to put on a fake smile: he still had another 6 hours until his shift was over.<p>

For the past year, he had worked at Orrin's Supermarket. That was the reason he had chosen not to play basketball: he was too busy working. After his Aunt Merian had lost her battle with cancer, Garrow had trouble making ends meet. Paying for the medical bills, on top of the mortgage, proved to be an almost insurmountable burden.

Roran had gotten a job as soon as he had turned 16, in an attempt to help support his father. However, the job did not pay much, and Roran was not called into work very often. So, when Eragon had turned 15, he had obtained a special work permit, and went looking for a job.

Fortunately, there had been an opening at Orrin's at the time, which Eragon had been more than willing to fill. With Roran's and Eragon's paychecks, the family was able to pay the bills most months.

And so, Eragon went to work nearly everyday after school, which brought him to the present. It was Saturday, the day after the basketball game. While most other kids were at home watching college football, he was stuck at work. Why me? he thought to himself. He was grateful for everything that Garrow did for him by adopting him after his parents' deaths, but he couldn't help wanting more. He was bitter that his life was like this: bitter at Garrow and Roran, bitter at his dead parents, and bitter at the man who had killed them.

He couldn't even remember his parents' faces anymore. They had died when he was only 3, victims of a drunk driver. In his mind, he vaguely remembered the night when his parents hadn't come home, leaving the babysitter to take care of him, until child services came to take him to Garrow and Merian, forever changing his life.

_Enough of that_, Eragon thought, trying to shake the morbid thoughts from his mind. Looking down at his watch, he realized with a start that it was time for his break. He headed for the break room, where he sat down and grabbed a soda. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was a pay-as-you-go cell phone, one that he had bought himself. Pulling it out, he looked at the new text message: "Hey eragon, it's arya."

Eragon's heartbeat sped up as he wondered why Arya was texting him.

He immediately replied, "Hey, what's up?" After sending the message, he sat back and waited for Arya to respond.

Less than a minute later, her response came in, which said "im having a party at my house later, and i wanted 2 know if u wanted 2 come."

Eragon let out a frustrated sigh. Just my luck, he thought, of course I have to work. Reaching for his phone, he replied. "im so sorry, i cant make it! im stuck at work all night. have fun tho!"

Arya's response gave him a little hope, however: "haha, thats okay, maybe next time!" _Next time_, Eragon thought. _That means I didn't completely screw everything up!_

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><p>The clock on the dashboard of the truck read 11:45. Eragon gave a yawn as he drove the truck down the road. He was thinking about Arya's party, what could have happened if he had gone.<p>

In the rearview mirror, he saw headlights quickly approaching. Looking at the spedometer, he observed that he was going 45 mph, five miles an hour faster than speed limit. However, the car behind him was going much faster than that.

Without even braking, the car sped past Eragon in the oncoming lane, going at least 65 mph. Eragon noted that it was a silver BMW, and saw several figures in the car. Not in the mood to be reckless, he applied the brakes and allowed the car to speed in front of him. He quickly lost sight of the car as it curved around an upcoming bend in the road.

Suddenly, Eragon heard the squeal of brakes and the crunching of metal. As he came around the turn, he saw the cause of the noise: the BMW was wrapped around a metal streetlight.

"Oh my gosh!" Eragon exclaimed, slamming on the brakes. He pulled out the phone and dialed 911.

"911, how may I help you?" a voice on the other line said.

In a shaky voice, Eragon replied "I just witnessed a car crash near the intersection of Carvahall and Therinsford."

"Okay, sir, I am sending out help right now. Can you tell me what happened?"

"This BMW sped around me and then like a minute later crashed into a metal pole!" Eragon exclaimed, his fingers shaking with adrenaline.

"Okay, can you tell me how many people are in the car?" asked the 911 responder.

Eragon looked at the crash scene. "I can see four people in the car, and- oh my gosh! There's a body on the ground, it looks like it flew out the windshield!"

"Thank you, help is on the way. Now, can you tell me..." asked the responder, but Eragon left it laying of the seat of the car. He ran towards the body laying on the ground. Kneeling beside the man, he put two fingers to his neck and felt a very weak pulse.

Blood covered the man's face from a massive contusion on his head, but Eragon realized that something looked familiar. Taking a closer look, he realized with a shock that the man was Faolin, Arya's boyfriend.

"Faolin, can you hear me? Wake up!" exclaimed Eragon, putting a hand on Faolin's shoulder to try to wake him. Instantly, Faolin's eyes flew open. His pupils flicked back and forth, not focusing on anything. Faolin began to violently cough, and blood began to come out of his mouth and nose.

Finally, the coughing fit subsided, and Faolin's breathing began to slow down, beyond normal rates. His chest soon stopped rising and falling. As soon as Eragon saw this, he felt for a pulse again, but to his horror, found none. "Faolin, no! Come back!" Eragon shouted into the night, still in shock about the whole event.

Behind him, police cars, a fire truck, and ambulances began to pull up, but Eragon was oblivious to them. The next thing he knew, a pair of strong arms were pulling him away from Faolin and the wreckage. A pair of medics knelt down beside Faolin, examining his wounds. After a minute, however, they stood up and looked at each other, shaking their heads. Eragon knew exactly what this meant: Faolin truly was dead.

Meanwhile, some firemen had pried open the car using Jaws of Life, and were carrying bodies out of the car. Immediately, the medics set to work on them, but the result was the same: they were already dead. As Eragon got a closer look at the other victims, he saw that were the other 4 starters on the basketball team, including Faolin's best friend, Glenwing.

Eragon's head began to spin from the shim he was experiencing. Eventually, a police officer approached and asked him for a statement. In a blank voice, he began to recount what had happened...

* * *

><p>Eragon quietly closed the door behind him as he entered his house. It was the middle of the night, and he had just arrived home after the accident.<p>

"Eragon, is that you?" came the concerned voice of Garrow from the other room, who came rushing into the room. "Oh my gosh, is that blood on your shirt?"

"There was an accident," said Eragon in the same emotionless voice as before, and he began to recount the accident for the second time that night...

"...so I gave them my statement, and then I came home," finished Eragon.

"Were they drunk?" Garrow asked immediately.

Eragon hesitated before answering, "I am not sure, but I think so."

"It's almost unreal," said Roran, who had joined the conversation.

"I know, it feels like one big nightmare," responded Eragon, who was sitting on the couch with a glazed look in his eyes.

"You'd better get to bed. Everything will seem better in the morning," advised Garrow. With a sigh, Eragon got up from the couch and began his trip to the bedroom.

He turned around and asked, "Should I call and tell Arya? Before she reads about it on Facebook?"

Garrow let out a sigh, and said, "Yes, I think you need to."

With a nod it his head, Eragon turned around and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. He closed the door and pulled out his phone. He scrolled down to the contact labeled "Arya Drottning" and pushed the call button.

The phone rang 5 times, and Eragon was just about to hang up the phone, when a groggy voice appeared on the other line. "Hello?" said Arya sleepily.

"Arya?" Eragon asked in an uncertain voice.

"Eragon? What the heck are you doing calling me at 3 in the morning?" she responded with annoyance.

"There's been... There's been an accident," Eragon said emotionally. The shock had begun to wear off, and the emotions were showing through.

"What do you mean?" Arya asked, suddenly concerned.

Eragon took a deep breath before continuing. "Faolin's dead. So are Glenwing and three other guys from the basketball team."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, before Arya responded, "What are you talking about?"

"They were in a car wreck, and I was the one who found the car. I'm sorry," was all Eragon could manage.

"No, Eragon, you're making this all up! Goodnight!" she exclaimed before hanging up the phone. Eragon looked down at the phone in his hand, before putting on the table and lying down in bed, succumbing to his exhaustion.

* * *

><p><strong>So... How did you like the chapter? Is it a little too dramatic? Please, let me know what you think!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Second chapter today! Thanks to all of the reviewers from chapter 4. Special shoutout to Cuaroc/Rok: Welcome back! If you haven't reviewed chapter 4, please do so and let me know what you think. And now, on to chapter 5 and a small little ExA moment!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

In a shaky voice, Eragon replied "I just witnessed a car crash near the intersection of Carvahall and Therinsford."

"There's been... There's been an accident," Eragon said emotionally. The shock had begun to wear off, and the emotions were showing through.

"What do you mean?" Arya asked, suddenly concerned.

Eragon took a deep breath before continuing. "Faolin's dead. So are Glenwing and three other guys from the basketball team."

* * *

><p>Eragon lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was hoping that everything that had happened last night was just a horrible nightmare, and that when he got out of bed, he would realize that none of it would happen. Gathering up the courage to face the day, he slid out of bed in his sweats. Grabbing a clean shirt, he slipped it over his head and walked out of the room. He trudged slowly down the stairs, dreading the moment of truth. Finally, he reached the base of the stairs and walked into the kitchen.<p>

Roran and Garrow were huddled around a small TV, watching the news. When they heard Eragon enter, they turned around and faced him with grave looks on their faces.

"It's all over the news," said Roran, breaking the silence. He motioned towards the TV, where a report had just begun.

"...tragic accident last night killed five teenage boys, all members of the basketball team at West Ilirea High. Police have not confirmed if alcohol and drugs played a contributing factor in the crash," said the reporter. The image on the screen flashed to a picture of the wreckage, mangled around the pole.

Eragon turned away, unable to take anymore. He sat down and grabbed a bowl of cereal, trying to get his mind off of the crash.

"The police called," mentioned Garrow. "They want to talk to you again, ask about some details." Eragon nodded in response, and turned back to his cereal.

Roran began to talk. "I wonder what will happen to the basketball team. The top five players, all gone. We might have to forfeit the entire season!"

However, Eragon ignored the comment and focused on his breakfast. After he had finished, he went back upstairs and jumped into the shower. Scalding muscles poured over his well-defined muscles, including the six-pack that Saphira loved to talk about.

Reminiscent of the first day of school, he began to think about Arya. _I can't imagine what she's feeling like right now_, he thought_. I wonder if she blames me for the crash. _

He shook his head, trying to stop the flow of thoughts. _Arya wouldn't blame me; she would never be that fickle._

* * *

><p>Garrow and Eragon pulled up to the police station. Dozens of cars swarmed around the building, the increased activity a result of the previous night's accident. Putting his hand on Eragon's shoulder, he led him into the station.<p>

Walking up to the front desk, Eragon said, "Hello, my name is Eragon Garrowsson, I was told that you wanted to ask me some questions?"

"Oh yes, follow me please," said the woman behind the desk. She stood up and led the pair into a room to their right, where dozens of cops were working, either questioning people or talking to people on the phone.

The receptionist led them through the room, however, into another room on the far wall. On the door stood a nameplate that said Lieutenant Vrael. The woman opened the door and motioned for them to step inside, which they did. The room was empty of anyone else, and so Garrow and Eragon sat and waited.

A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a middle aged man with gray hair. As he shook Garrow's and Eragon's hands, he introduced himself. "Hello, I am Lieutenant Vrael. I just wanted to follow up on a couple details regarding last night's crash."

Eragon nodded his understanding as they sat back down. The officer moved to the other side of the desk, where he sat down and began reading a file that was sitting on top of the desk.

"In your statement, you said that the BMW that crashed last night, it quote 'flew past' you in the other lane. Can you explain what you meant by this?" Vrael asked.

Eragon swallowed and replied, "Of course. I was driving along Carvahall Drive, going about 43 miles an hour, when this BMW showed up in my rearview mirror. Without even braking, they sped past me in the oncoming lane of traffic, going at least 65."

The officer nodded and continued. "So, would you consider their driving to be reckless?"

"Definitely," responded Eragon.

"Okay, sirs, that is all we needed to know. I am sorry for the inconvenience we may have caused," said the officer as he stood up.

"Lieutenant, may I ask you a question?" inquired Eragon. Vrael looked down at him and nodded. "Were they drunk when they crashed?"

Vrael sighed before saying, "I am not allowed to disclose the results of an ongoing investigation." Ignoring Eragon's objections, he continued, "but just between you and me, I think it's extremely likely."

He then led Garrow and Eragon out of the office and back through the central room. As they were leaving, Eragon spotted an officer talking to a black haired girl that he realized was Arya. Sitting next to her was her mother, Islanzadi.

"...where did the alcohol come from then?" asked the officer impatiently. Arya appeared very flustered and uncomfortable.

"I told you, I don't know! They must have brought it with them to the party!" she exclaimed.

"That is enough. I would like to speak to my lawyer!" demanded Islanzadi. As Eragon passed the table, he was able to catch Arya's eye, who was surprised at his appearance. He tried to look as concerned as possible, as if to say _Are you okay?_

It seemed that Arya understood what he was trying to say, as she smiled and nodded her head sadly.

"Come on, boy," Garrow said roughly, before pulling him out of the office and into the parking lot.

* * *

><p>The clock read 7:15 when Eragon pulled into the driveway. He had gone to work shortly after the interview at the police station. Garrow desperately needed the money, and Eragon knew it. And that meant going to work the day after the accident.<p>

As he walked in the front door, he was mildly surprised to see Roran, Saphira, and Murtagh sitting around the kitchen table.

"What are you guys doing here?" Eragon asked in a friendly tone. They looked at each other uncertainly before Saphira spoke up.

"There's a memorial down at the school, and we thought we should go," she said.

Eragon sighed and agreed, "Fine, let's get going." The four teenagers hurried out the door and into the old truck. On the ride to the school, nobody talked, and the radio remained off.

Finally, they reached their destination as the four teenagers hopped out of the truck in the parking lot. The makeshift memorial was located in front of school. People had brought pictures, cards, basketballs, and anything else that was related to the 5 kids.

Already, close to 200 people had assembled in front of the memorial. Many had brought candles with them, creating the illusion of a sea of flames. A bitterly cold wind blew from the west, and even though it was only early September, small snowflakes began to fall from the black sky.

Eragon, dressed in jeans and a hoodie, huddled with his friends to keep warm. Out of her jacket, Saphira pulled four small candles, and began to light them, handing them to Roran, Eragon and Murtagh. The crowd stood in silence, although quiet crying could be heard.

"Look who it is," murmured Murtagh suddenly, pointing at a figure at the back of the crowd. Eragon squinted and was able to make out the figure of Arya, standing alone in the darkness. "You should go over there," suggested Murtagh.

"No way," whispered Eragon. "I'm sure she wants to be alone right now."

"If I were in her place, I would want someone beside me," commented Saphira. "Come on, Eragon, go cheer her up."

"Fine." Handing his candle to Roran, he slowly made his way over to where Arya was standing. After a minute of navigating through the crowd, he finally reached her.

"Hey," he said simply when she saw him.

"Hey," she whispered back, as she wrapped her arms around him in a small hug. Eragon was completely thrown off guard by the hug, but he managed to wrap his arms around her and hold her for a few seconds.

As she pulled away, he noticed that her cheeks were stained with tears. He desperately wanted to reach up and wipe them away, but he knew it wouldn't be appropriate. Instead, he stood next to her, staring at the memorial, shoulders brushing.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, turning to look at her.

She shrugged in her sweatshirt, and replied, "Not too well." Silence reigned between them for a few seconds before she said, "I'm sorry for what I said on the phone last night. I was totally out of line."

"Don't be," replied Eragon concernedly. "I would have done the same thing." The silence resurfaced, as they thought about the five kids who had just lost their lives.

The candles began to burn low and many people began to head home. "I'm glad you came tonight, Eragon," Arya said after a while.

Eragon smiled sadly. "I am too."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! And please review! Even if it is just to say that you liked the chapter, please do it. It doesn't have to be a huge dissertation or anything, but it would make my day.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the little wait. I hope you guys like the new chapter. I tried to slow down Eragon and Arya's relationship a little, to make it more realistic. Also, I know that this chapter is a little short, I promise future chapters will be longer.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed or supported this story. I really appreciate it.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

"There's a memorial down at the school, and we thought we should go," Saphira said.

Eragon sighed and agreed, "Fine, let's get going."

...

"Hey," she whispered back, as she wrapped her arms around him in a small hug. Eragon was completely thrown off guard by the hug, but he managed to wrap his arms around her and hold her for a few seconds.

"I'm glad you came tonight, Eragon," Arya said after a while.

* * *

><p>"Could this be any more boring?" asked Murtagh, who was sitting next to Eragon. In one ear he had an earbud connected to his iPod, cleverly hidden from the teacher's view. The two were sitting in chemistry class on Wednesday morning, taking notes on the properties of chemical reactions.<p>

"What was that, Murtagh?" asked the teacher, Ms. Angela, suddenly. "Would you like to share with the class?"

Eragon laughed silently next to Murtagh, wondering how in the world she had heard that comment. "I was telling Eragon how interesting these chemical reactions are," responded Murtagh, his face getting redder by the second.

"Sure you were. And while you're at it, take those headphones out of your ear. Then you can really learn how interesting chemical reactions are," replied Ms. Angela with a grin on her face. Mortified, Murtagh took out the headphones and stared down at his paper.

...

An hour later, the class finally ended, as the class moaned about the amount of homework they had that night. Murtagh was chatting to Eragon about his plans for the night as they were leaving the room, when the teacher stopped Eragon.

"Eragon, could you stay for a couple minutes? I would like to have a word with you," came the voice of Ms. Angela from her desk. Ignoring the jokes of Murtagh, Eragon turned and approached the desk.

Ms. Angela was sitting there, grading papers. Eragon stood there for 30 seconds, waiting for her to acknowledge his presence. Finally, he got so annoyed that he cleared his throat loudly to get her attention.

"It's about time you had the spine to speak up," said Angela as she finally looked up from her papers. Who is this lady? Eragon thought to himself.

"What did you want to speak with me about?" he asked respectfully.

Angela began shooting paper balls at a trashcan in the corner of the room. "Well, Eragon, you have a decision approaching quickly," she observed.

_Is this lady crazy?_ Eragon thought, as he replied aloud, "What do you mean a 'decision'?"

"Ah, where would be the fun in telling you? No, just remember what we learned today in class: when certain elements are combined, they cause a reaction bigger than any of the individual elements alone."

Eragon began to back away towards the door. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind," he said uncertainly.

"Oh, and remember to watch out for those crazy red-eyed rabbits. Like in Monty Python," Angela said. With a forced smile, Eragon sped out of the room towards his next class and away from the mentally insane Ms. Angela.

* * *

><p>"...I'm serious dude, I thought she was gonna pull out duct tape and throw me in the back of her van," joked Eragon. "All I know is that Ms. Angela creeps me out." Everyone at the table started laughing at Eragon's mocking of the teacher. However, the laughter quickly died out.<p>

"Why does the entire school seem so depressed today?" asked Orik ignorantly.

Saphira answered quietly, "The funerals are today."

"Oh," said Orik stupidly, then went quiet. Looking outside, rain was pouring, and hail had even begun to fall. "I bet the people there are soaking wet," he mumbled.

The table was quiet for a few moments as a somber mood descended. Finally, Murtagh spoke up, asking Eragon, "So how's Arya doing after we saw her on Sunday night?"

Eragon swallowed a hard lump in his throat and looked down at his sandwich. Ever since Sunday, when he had hugged Arya at the memorial, things had gone downhill for him. When she had surprised everyone by coming to school on Monday, he had seemed different than the Arya he had gotten to know.

Even worse, she had given him a cold shoulder. In art class, he had tried for an hour to talk to her and cheer her up. He never received more than one or two word responses. Instead, Arya focused completely on her work, paying Eragon no attention.

Tuesday was no better than the day before, and Eragon began to wonder what he had done to deserve this treatment. _I wonder if she feels guilty after that hug, so soon after Faolin's death_, he thought to himself.

"I don't know. She won't talk to me," Eragon answered Murtagh.

As if reading his mind, Saphira said, "You didn't do anything wrong. She's probably still trying to cope with Faolin's death. I don't blame her." Eragon merely nodded in acknowledgement and continued eating his ham and cheese sandwich.

"So, did you guys hear about the town meeting tonight?" asked Nasuada, who was sitting on the end of the table, next to Murtagh.

Eragon looked up in confusion. "I didn't hear about this, what is it about?" he inquired.

"Well, they are trying to decide what to do about the basketball team. There are only 3 players left. Unless we held tryouts, we would be forced to forfeit the season, which would be a huge blow to the entire community," explained Nasuada.

"I, for one, don't think they should hold any tryouts. It would be an insult to their memory," said Roran.

Eragon realized what Roran was trying to do: persuade him to not try out, even if they didn't forfeit. "To forfeit the season would be an insult to them. Their one goal was to take down East Ilirea and to win state. And we're just going to give up without a fight?" Eragon countered.

Murtagh, fortunately, realized where the conversation was headed and ended it by saying, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they decide."

* * *

><p>"Who cares about basketball?" yelled a parent from the back of the school gym. Chairs had been set up, filling the entire gym, and they were all filled with concerned parents and supporters. "Five kids are dead, and all you care about is winning!" finished the parent.<p>

"Sir, I realize your anger about a new team, but it's what these five boys would have wanted," countered Oromis, who sat in his wheelchair on a raised platform.

At this latest comment, dozens of parents started yelling, both in support of and against the new team.

"How do you know what they would have wanted?" yelled another parent. "You're just a basketball coach.

"Stop!" yelled a female voice. Everyone turned to face the person who had spoken. To their surprise, they saw a middle aged woman with tears streaming down her face. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak.

"My name is Galdria Rilvenar. My son is- was Faolin." The crowd silenced as they let the mother speak. "Faolin lived and breathed basketball, and his dream was to beat East Ilirea and win the state championship. Now that he is gone, I am sure that he wants us to create a new team, to carry on his legacy."

There were several murmurs of agreement throughout the room. Oromis finally spoke up, "Is everyone agreeable to hold the tryouts?" After hearing one of the victim's mothers speak, nobody dared speak up.

"Okay then, that is settled. The first game of the year is less than two weeks away, against Gilead. Therefore, in order to have enough time to prepare, tryouts will be Friday afternoon after school. Any questions?"

One man stood up and asked, "Even with the old team, we could barely beat Gilead. What makes you think that we stand a chance now?"

Oromis sighed and said, "There is a student here at West Ilirea that I believe has the the talent to lead us to a state championship. The only trouble is convincing him to play."

Dozen of voices shouted out, asking who this player was.

Oromis simply replied, "His name is Eragon Garrowsson."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Please review, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks to all of the reviewers. For those of you who didn't review, all I can say is, Help a bro out! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. This is much longer than previous chapters. Also, I addressed some concerns about how Oromis acted last chapter.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

"Okay then, that is settled. The first game of the year is less than two weeks away, against Gilead. Therefore, in order to have enough time to prepare, tryouts will be Friday afternoon after school. Any questions?"

One man stood up and asked, "Even with the old team, we could barely beat Gilead. What makes you think that we stand a chance now?"

Oromis sighed and said, "There is a student here at West Ilirea that I believe has the the talent to lead us to a state championship. The only trouble is convincing him to play."

Dozen of voices shouted out, asking who this player was.

Oromis simply replied, "His name is Eragon Garrowsson."

* * *

><p>"What's up, man!" said a guy as Eragon passed him in the halls on the way to art class.<p>

"Oh, hey bro," Eragon replied as he walked past him. He had absolutely no idea who the guy was. _This has been one weird day,_ he thought to himself. All day, random people had been approaching him and acting like they were good friends of his.

Finally, he reached the art room. Opening the door, he walked to his seat and sat down. Arya was already seated next to him, so he gave her a small, forced smile before turning his attention to the teacher, who was giving directions.

"Good afternoon everyone. Today we will be starting our first major unit, which will be on caricatures and portraits. Before we go into techniques and specifics, I would like you all to get familiar with what this unit is really about," explained Mr. Solembum. "So, you and your partner will take turns drawing each other. Do your best, this is just a completion grade. This should get you acquainted with the basic concept of portraits."

_Great_, Eragon groaned inwardly. _I have to sit here and draw a picture of the girl who doesn't want to be within a mile of me. On top of that, I have to try and focus while staring at her face. _

Taking a deep breath, he turned to Arya and asked, "Shall we get started?" She gave him a small smile and grabbed some paper and pencils.

"I'll draw first," replied Arya.

...

Thirty minutes later, Arya finally finished her drawing of Eragon. "Wow, that's amazing," complimented Eragon.

"Thanks," Arya said softly, as she handed him a piece of paper. "Your turn."

Eragon let out a sigh. "Okay, I'll try, but just promise me that you won't get mad at me if I screw up your nose like I did with the dragon," he joked.

Arya let out a small giggle and said, "I wouldn't dream of it."

_Finally_! Eragon thought. _I got her to laugh!_ The entire time she had been drawing him, he had tried to get her to talk, but was only partially successful. It was all small talk, from the weather to cafeteria food, and Eragon didn't want to bring up anything that might make her angry. During the whole conversation, she had remained cold and sad, until Eragon had finally gotten her to laugh.

Eragon began to draw, shifting his gaze from the paper to Arya's face, which was a very disconcerting experience for him. Every time he looked up, he found Arya's beautiful green eyes staring directly at his own brown eyes, as if trying to figure something out about him. Eragon remained silent this time, trying to concentrate.

A few minutes into the drawing, Arya finally broke the silence. "I hear you are trying out for the basketball team," she said.

Eragon immediately looked up. He had heard about the decision from the meeting last night, but he didn't know where she had heard that he was going to play. "I wasn't planning on it, actually. I have...other commitments," he replied.

Arya looked a little surprised. "That's definitely not what the rest of the school is saying," she responded. "Everyone has been talking about how you are gonna take us all the way to the state championship."

"Where did this start?" he asked. "I definitely never said this!"

Arya thought about it for a moment. "I'm pretty sure that the coach told all the parents last night that you could lead the team," she answered. "Are you okay?" she asked suddenly, looking at Eragon, who had an angry look on his face.

"I'm fine. I just need to have a little talk with Coach Oromis," he said before turning back to the drawing.

Arya was silent for a few minutes, before she said, "You know, Eragon, a lot of people are counting on you to lead this team."

Eragon sighed. "I know."

* * *

><p>As soon as the bell rang, Eragon grabbed his backpack and hustled out of the room. Navigating his way through the crowd, he headed toward the locker rooms. When he entered, he was met with several greetings, such as "Eragon, what up!" and "Bro, how's it goin?"<p>

Politely smiling at them and simply saying, "What's up, guys," he made his way to the back of the locker room. There, he found an office with a label that said "Coach Oromis." Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand on knocked on the door.

"Come in," came a deep voice from within the room. Opening the door, Eragon stepped into the small office. Papers with plays drawn on them littered the room, and Oromis sat behind his desk with a pair of glasses on, watching film of a previous game that Gilead had played.

"Eragon, what can I do for you?" Oromis asked as he paused the film.

Eragon stepped up to the desk and said, "You can start by explaining why the hell you told everyone that I'm going to play ball!" he said in an angry voice.

Oromis sat back, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. "I made a mistake, Eragon. I know that I should have left you out of it, and I apologize."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Eragon exclaimed. "Now the whole school is expecting me to lead the team, and if I don't, everyone will hate me!"

"Does this mean that you are considering playing?" asked Oromis. "We both know that this is what you're supposed to do."

"No! I already told you, my family can't afford for me to quit my job and play!"

Oromis looked at Eragon for a moment, and replied cryptically, "Do you know what I think? I think that you are just scared, scared of failing, scared of letting everyone down."

Eragon's eyes were like daggers as he glared at the coach. "Do you know what I think? I think you're wrong!" he exclaimed before turning and storming out of the office.

"You can't always run away!" Oromis called after Eragon. "One day you will have to face your fears!"

* * *

><p>"Are you working tonight?" asked Roran. They were in the truck, driving home from school.<p>

"Yeah, til 9:00," replied Eragon, who was staring out the window at the passing scenery. "Did you hear about the tryouts?" he asked nervously.

Roran hesitated before replying, "Yeah, and I heard how everyone wants you to play."

"What do you think I should do?" Eragon asked Roran uncertainly.

Roran didn't respond for a few moments, and the only sounds that could be heard were the roar of the engine and the wind flying past them. Finally he replied, "I think you should play." Seeing Eragon's shocked look, he explained, "Everyone is counting on you, brother. I talked to my boss last week, and he's gonna give me more hours, so we might be able to scrape by. You've given up a lot to help this family, and I think you deserve to play basketball."

Eragon turned and smiled at Roran. "Thanks, Roran. It means a lot."

Roran chuckled and said, "Don't thank me yet. You still have to convince Dad."

* * *

><p>Eragon walked into the house after an exhausting shift at work. Suddenly, everyone at the store seemed to know who he was and asked him questions about basketball.<p>

He walked through the makeshift mudroom/laundry room into the kitchen. There, he found Garrow seated, waiting for him. He gulped and sat down.

"Hey, Uncle," Eragon said nervously as he shifted in his chair.

Garrow looked directly at him and said, "I don't want you to play."

Eragon was surprised at his uncle's boldness. "Uncle, everyone is counting on me to lead the team! Do you want me to let them all down?"

"Yes, Eragon, I do. We need the money from your job. We are barely scraping by as it is!" Garrow exclaimed.

"Roran said that he's gonna get some more hours!" Eragon countered.

"It's still not enough," said Garrow. "But I am leaving the choice up to you. Do what you think is right." With that, he got up and left Eragon sitting at the table.

Eragon was very conflicted. On one hand, he knew he needed to help his uncle out. On the other hand, however, he didn't want to let the town down.

Rising from the table, he grabbed his keys and yelled, "I'll be back," before heading outside and getting in the truck.

* * *

><p>Eragon drove aimlessly around the town, with no destination in mind. After about 20 minutes, he found himself in the school parking lot. There was only one other car in the parking lot. <em>Probably a janitor<em>, he thought to himself.

Chuckling to himself at how he ended up at the school, he jumped out of the truck and walked up to the doors. He was surprised to find them unlocked. After a moment's hesitation, he opened them and walked inside. He knew exactly where he was going, and within seconds, he was standing in the gym.

Spotting a ball in the corner, Eragon picked it up and began to dribble it with unerring ease. Finally, he picked up the ball and shot it.

Swish.

He retrieved the ball and shot it again. Another make. Again and again, he shot the ball, making almost all of them. After a particularly hard shot, he bent down to catch his breath.

Suddenly, he heard a sound from the corner. Startled, he looked up to find Ms. Rhunon, the applied tech/metalwork teacher, clapping her hands. "Well done," she complimented.

Rhunon was Eragon's favorite teacher. She was in her mid fifties, with an old, wrinkled face and rough hands. As a freshman, he had taken her metalworks class as an elective, and had loved it. It wasn't that Ms. Rhunon was the nicest teacher; in fact, she was quite the opposite. She was blunt and spoke her mind, regardless of whether it was offensive. What Eragon liked about her was that she cared. She took an interest in him, and went out of her way to help him succeed.

"Hello, Ms. Rhunon. What are you doing here?" Eragon asked.

"Oh, just working on a little project. The question is, what are you doing here?" she responded.

"I was...thinking," Eragon replied. "Trying to make a decision."

"Ah, it's about the basketball team," observed Rhunon.

"You want me to play too, don't you?" Eragon inquired.

"Actually, I don't care what you do. I've never been a basketball fan," she explained. "Let me say this, though: sometimes you have to stop doing what everyone else wants you to do, and start doing what _you_ want to do."

Eragon looked down at the basketball in his hands thoughtfully. "I'll leave you to your thoughts. Goodnight, Eragon," said Rhunon as she walked out of the gym, leaving Eragon alone. _I wonder if I can still work weekends, _he thought.

After several minutes of contemplation, Eragon stood up. _I know what I need to do_, he thought. He shot the ball, draining it one last time, before walking out of the gym.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the partial cliffhanger! His decision should be kinda obvious though.<strong>

**Thanks for reading. Please, please, review! Any questions, feel free to PM me.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Three updates in three days... I'm on a roll! I'm sorry if you don't know anything about basketball, I tried to not make it too technical. Anyways, I probably won't be updating tomorrow or Sunday, just putting that out there.**

**Thanks to all of the reviewers, especially Alexzander95, Ajihad Swordscratcher, IronMikeTyson, Rennir, Luna Kelly, Airmage, Eluvita, BrightWatcher, Ninjalegendwallo, Cuaroc, and everyone else from previous chapters.**

**Ajihad Swordscratcher: I checked the spelling, it was right, I was just too lazy to put the two dots above the u in Rhunon.**

**Alexzander95: Okay, here is your mention.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

Arya looked a little surprised. "That's definitely not what the rest of the school is saying," she responded. "Everyone has been talking about how you are gonna take us all the way to the state championship."

"Actually, I don't care what you do. I've never been a basketball fan," she explained. "Let me say this, though: sometimes you have to stop doing what everyone else wants you to do, and start doing what you want to do."

After several minutes of contemplation, Eragon stood up. I know what I need to do, he thought. He shot the ball, draining it one last time, before walking out of the gym.

* * *

><p>Most of the class was asleep. The teacher, however, did not notice; he kept monologuing about the different methods of caricatures and portraits.<p>

Eragon, on the other hand, was wide awake. Despite the fact that it was the last period of the day, and the teacher was giving the most boring presentation in the history of presentations, he couldn't seem to calm his mind.

It was Friday afternoon, and basketball tryouts were immediately after the period ended. Eragon was very apprehensive; he knew that there was no going back on his choice.

He sat back in his chair and peered over at Arya. She had her head down, but her eyes were open, looking directly at Eragon. He gave her a small smile to disguise his nervousness and excitement at discovering her looking at him.

She returned the smile and opened up her notebook. _She seems to be acting a little happier today_, he thought to himself. Arya pulled out a piece of paper and began writing on it, as if taking notes on most pointless subject ever. _Nerd_, Eragon thought to himself.

However, Arya slid the paper over to him, which surprised him. In her neat cursive handwriting was written, "Have you made your decision yet?"

Eragon smiled in his mind, glad that Arya was thinking about him in a context outside of art class. Grabbing a pen off the desk, he scribbled in his messy sprawl, "Yeah, I think I'm gonna play."

Arya frowned as she read his response. Taking the paper back, she replied, "What do you mean, 'I think?'"

Eragon glanced at the clock on the wall, then wrote on the paper, "Well, there's still 15 minutes for me to get cold feet :)"

That got a small smile out of Arya, who wrote, "You'd better not!" Then, she wrote some more: "I'm glad you decided to play :)"

Eragon read this last part and smiled over at her. Suddenly, the paper was snatched out of his hands by the teacher, Mr. Solembum, who had appeared out of nowhere next to Eragon.

"What do we have here?" he said curiously, turning over the paper and reading the messages between Eragon and Arya.

"I was...just taking notes on...the types of portraits," Eragon covered up, glancing over at the title of the current slide.

"Oh, okay," replied the teacher with a wink. "Continue with your note taking," he said grinning, before walking back up to the front of the room.

Eragon glanced over at Arya, who had a mortified look on her face and whose ears were red. She began to giggle, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Seeing her laughter caused Eragon to start laughing too. Soon, both were trying their best not to wake up the entire class with their laughing.

Finally, after a couple minutes, Eragon and Arya were able to regain their composure and keep straight faces for more than two seconds. Eragon looked at the board, trying to pay attention, when a loud noise erupted next to him.

Hiccup!

He looked over at Arya, whose face was now bright red. He burst into another bout of silent laughter. "Are you okay, Arya?" asked the teacher from the front of the classroom.

"Yes, I'm -hiccup- fine," replied Arya, who started blushing even more. Soon, Eragon's eyes were streaming tears from containing his laughter. Arya began to chuckle at herself.

She was saved from further embarrassment as the bell rang. Eragon and Arya grabbed their bags and hustled out of the room, still grinning from ear to ear.

"That was so embarrassing," complained Arya as she walked beside Eragon.

"No, that was hilarious," joked Eragon. "Did you hear yourself?"

"Yes, I did, thank you very much," she said, trying to act angry.

"Solembum totally read those messages," Eragon said.

"I know, why didn't he get mad?" Arya wondered aloud.

"He must be cooler than I thought," Eragon replied. The pair stopped at the end of the hallway.

"Well, I have to go to my locker," Arya said. "I'll see you at tryouts. Good luck!" she called over her shoulder as she turned onto another hallway.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" he called after her. I thought tryouts were private, he thought to himself.

* * *

><p>He made his way to the locker room, where a crowd of guys were already changing. There's a lot more guys here than yesterday, he thought. Eragon found an empty locker and dumped his stuff inside. He slipped out of his jeans and T-shirt and put on some basketball shorts and a shirt with the sleeves cut off that said "West Ilirea Basketball."<p>

He sat down on the bench and began to slip on his basketball shoes. After a minute, he finished tying them. However, he sat there for a moment, thinking. There's no backing out now. Sighing, he stood up and walked to gym.

As he walked in, he immediately noticed the crowd. Half of the bleachers had been pulled out to accommodate the dozens of people who had shown up to watch the tryouts. There was a mix of both parents and students in the bleachers.

Grabbing a basketball, Eragon began to dribble and get warmed up. Suddenly, he heard his name being called from the bleachers. Looking over, he saw Arya waving at him from her spot next to her popular friends. Eragon gave a small wave and smiled, trying not to look too excited.

"It looks like someone has a fan club already," said a voice behind Eragon. He turned around to see Murtagh standing beside him.

"Murtagh, what's up!" Eragon exclaimed. "I didn't know you played basketball!"

"Yeah, I never really felt like playing for the school until now," he explained. "What's up with the crowd?" he asked.

"I don't know, it looks like a lot of people want to watch us play," Eragon guessed. A whistle suddenly blew behind them. Murtagh and Eragon turned and joined the huddle of players around Coach Oromis, who has blown the whistle.

"Welcome, everyone, both old and new players," greeted Oromis. "Let's get started with some layups and basic shots, and we'll go from there."

The players arranged themselves into two lines: one for layups and the other for rebounding. Soon, Eragon's turn came around. With only one dribble, he jumped up and layed it softly off the backboard and into the hoop perfectly. He couldn't resist, however, from lightly slapping the backboard during the jump, as a way to intimidate some of the other guys.

His turn came around 10 more times, and each time he made the layup with ease. After layups, the players began to shoot jumpshots from further and further back.

Once again, Eragon made every shot. Even from 3 point range, he drained them all. In the crowd, he could hear people cheering and talking about him. Eragon tried his best to ignore them and focus on the game. Meanwhile, Oromis and his assistants took notes about each of the players.

The coaches began the players on some dribbling drills. Eragon began to get in line when the assistant coach, Jormundur, called him out. "Eragon, could you come with me?" he asked.

Nodding, Eragon jogged over to Jormundur, who was walking over to the other end of the court, where nobody was playing. He stopped at the 3 point line and gave Eragon a ball. "I'm going to tell you different dribbling and shooting combinations, and I want you to complete them as best as you can. Understand?" Jormundur explained.

Eragon nodded. "Good, let's get started."

The whole crowd watched Eragon with his drill, paying no attention to the rest of the players. Eragon looked like a natural, dribbling between his legs, behind his legs, spinning off of imaginary defenders and shooting the ball in perfect form.

...

"Ooh, he's cute, don't you think?" asked Trianna, a girl sitting next to Arya.

"Yeah, whatever you say," responded Arya, who kept her eyes glued on the figure of Eragon below.

...

Soon, the swishing of the net could be heard over and over. Jormundur rebounded the ball and passed it to Eragon, who completed a new move. After a while, Jormundur had Eragon shooting 3 pointers every time. The rest of the players had finished their drill, and everyone watched Eragon shoot. After a final swish, Oromis called Eragon over to join them.

"Good job, guys. We are going to scrimmage for the rest of the time. You will be divided into two equal teams," Oromis explained.

A few minutes later, Eragon was standing with his team. These are the most unfair teams in history, he thought. All of the uncoordinated kids were put on Eragon's team, while Murtagh, the remaining varsity players, and other talented guys were on the other team.

"Okay, we seem to have lost the practice jerseys, so who wants to be shirts and who wants to be skins?" a coach asked. Some stupid kid on Eragon's team immediately said that they were skins, making some of the kids groan. Eragon peeled off his shirt and tossed it onto the bleachers, waiting for the scrimmaging to begin.

...

"Holy crap, do you see those abs?" exclaimed Trianna again. "They look like they are from that movie 300!"

Arya chuckled. "Yes, I can definitely see his abs, Trianna!"

...

"Okay, shirts get the ball first!" called out Oromis, tossing the ball to one of the remaining varsity players.

"Pick a man and stay with him!" called Eragon to his team. "I got ball!" he yelled, guarding the guy who was dribbling the ball down the court.

"Well, look who it is! The new Michael Jordan!" sneered the kid, whose name was Vanir. "Let's see how you stack up against the big boys!" With that, he sprinted past Eragon towards the basket.

Eragon hesitated purposely, allowing him to get to the basket. As Vanir jumped up to shoot the ball, Eragon leaped up and swatted the ball out of his hands. Quickly, he grabbed the ball and sprinted down the court. As he neared the hoop, he jumped up and dunked the ball with one hand.

As he jogged back to play defense, he passed Vanir, who had a shocked look on his face. "You can just call me Eragon," he joked as he ran past him.

Despite Eragon's talent, the game was pretty even. He tried to pass the ball to the other guys too, who ended up losing the ball half of the time. Finally, after Eragon hit a 3 right in front of a defender, Oromis blew his whistle.

"Okay guys, that's it for tonight. Good job everyone, we will see everyone tomorrow morning for the last day of tryouts!" Oromis explained. With that, the players began to grab their stuff and head out the door. Eragon walked over to the bleachers where he tossed his shirt, but couldn't find it.

"Looking for this?" Arya asked, holding up his shirt and grinning.

"Uh, yeah," said Eragon awkwardly. Arya tossed it to him, and he slipped it over his head and onto his body.

"You played amazing," Arya told him as they walked towards the doors together.

"Thanks, you were a great cheerleader too," joked Eragon.

Arya laughed and responded, "Good luck tomorrow, but I don't think you'll need it."

Eragon chuckled. "Thanks," he said and waved to her as she walked away. He turned and headed towards the locker room to get changed.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. I hope I didn't bore you guys too much with all that basketball. I think I made up for it with that flirt fest in the beginning :) And please review!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the little wait, here's the new chapter. Since several of you reviewers asked for me to go in depth with the basketball, I did exactly that. Several of you guys also had concerns about Eragon's godlike basketball abilities. I kind of addressed that in this chapter, but I will definitely touch on it in the future. Don't worry, I will tone down his abilities a little :) Hope you enjoy it!**

**Thanks to: Gorth, Green Ninja, BloodRansom, IronMikeTyson, paulalobo, Rennir, RJCoolJ, Ajihad Swordscratcher, Brightwatcher, Eluvita, Cuaroc, xAdonis, trouden, Alexzander95, keyblademasta12.**

**Ajihad Swordscratcher: Actually, I hadn't even thought of Trianna until I randomly put her in ch 8, but now she will be playing a much bigger role in the future.**

**IronMikeTyson: Uh, Eragon probably did a lot of situps outside of basketball. That's how he got a six pack.**

**BrightWatcher: I have a vague outline, but as far as individual chapters, I make them up as I go.**

**Rennir & Green Ninja: Was this enough detail for the basketball?**

**Gorth: Yeah, I understand your concern. Eragon will be a little less beastly at basketball in the future.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

Soon, the swishing of the net could be heard over and over. Jormundur rebounded the ball and passed it to Eragon, who completed a new move. After a while, Jormundur had Eragon shooting 3 pointers every time. The rest of the players had finished their drill, and everyone watched Eragon shoot.

"You played amazing," Arya told him as they walked towards the doors together.

"Thanks, you were a great cheerleader too," joked Eragon.

Arya laughed and responded, "Good luck tomorrow, but I don't think you'll need it."

* * *

><p>Eragon awoke to the sound of his phone buzzing on the nightstand beside his bed. Groaning, he grabbed the phone and answered it.<p>

"Hello?" he answered in an annoyed voice.

"Hey bro, it's Murtagh. I was wondering if I could get a ride to practice," said the voice on the other end.

Eragon sighed and replied, "Yeah, I gotcha. I'll be in your driveway in... 30 minutes? Sound good?"

"Yeah, dude, I'll be ready. Thanks a ton," said Murtagh before he hung up. Eragon rolled over and looked at the clock, which read 7:15. He moaned and sat up. This was going to be one long day.

* * *

><p>Eragon pulled up in Murtagh's driveway. He lived with his dad, Tornac. Eragon hadn't talked about Murtagh's family a lot with him, but he did know that he had been adopted as a kid. Who his biological parent were, he had no idea.<p>

Murtagh slipped out the front door ad sauntered up to the truck, dressed in baggy sweats and a T-shirt, with his red high tops on his feet. "What's up dude," he said as he got into the car.

"Nothing much, how about you?" Eragon responded as he backed out of the driveway.

"I'm just excited to get these dumb tryouts out of the way," Murtagh replied. "Speaking of, you were on fire last night! I was cracking up when you stuffed Vanir! Priceless!"

Eragon chuckled and said, "I wanted to teach him a little lesson in humility."

The pair were quiet for a few moments as the radio blared. Breaking the silence, Murtagh asked, "So, what's goin on with you and Arya?"

Eragon blushed slightly, but luckily Murtagh didn't notice. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Uh, are you blind? She and her friends were totally checking you out the entire time!" Murtagh exclaimed.

"Really?" Eragon asked excitedly.

"Yeah man, she's totally into you," Murtagh encouraged.

Eragon thought about that for a moment, before responding, "Do you think she would wanna go to the movies sometime?" he asked.

Murtagh rolled his eyes. "Here's an idea: stop asking me and start asking her!"

Eragon chuckled and shook his head. He swung into a parking space at the school. The two jumped out of the truck and walked towards the school. There were an unusual amount of cars there, and Eragon assumed that more people had come to watch this morning.

As he and Murtagh walked into the gym, he was greeted by the annoying voices of several girls yelling his name, trying to get his attention. As he looked up and waved bashfully to them, he tried to see who they were. There were a couple of cheerleaders and popular girls, including one of Arya's friends that Eragon remembered was named Trianna.

He and Murtagh went and sat on the bench and began to peel off their sweat and lace up their high tops. As they were sitting there, Eragon noticed Arya walked into the gym and go sit with the girls who were yelling his name. She was wearing sweats, tennis shoes, and a sweatshirt. Her hair looked great, as always, with her straight black locks coming just below her shoulders, and her bangs tucked behind her ears. _Geez, she's looking pretty hot right now_, he thought to himself.

As he glanced over at her, Arya looked up and saw him looking at her. She gave a little wave and mouthed, "Good luck!" Eragon smiled in response, stood up, and walked onto the court to warmup. He was hoping that she hadn't seen him totally blushing when she caught him staring.

Just then, Oromis called everyone together at half court. "Let's go, everyone. Hustle it up! We've got a lot to do today!" he yelled to a couple of slow kids. "Let's get started with some layups and mid range jumpshots, and we'll go from there."

Eragon breezed through the warmup, paying more attention to Arya than to the actual drill. He tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, watching her out of the corner of his eye to see her reaction as he jogged back after a shot. Finally, the drill ended, and Oromis huddled them up again.

"Okay, we are gonna split up a little today. Most of you are gonna be with Coach Jormundur, working on some defensive and passing drills. The rest of you will be with me, working on some different plays," explained Oromis. He then proceeded to split up the team into the two groups. Eragon, Murtagh, Vanir, and some other talented guys all went with Oromis. Eragon realized that the rest of the guys that went with Jormundur were on the bubble for being cut.

Oromis began giving them instructions on what they would be doing. "I want to teams. Offense is going to work on passing the ball around, looking for good shots. Defense will be just trying to stop the other team. Got it? Then let's split you up," he explained. He then proceeded to divide up into teams. Eragon was placed with Murtagh, one of his neighbors named Baldor, and two other kids. Vanir and the rest of the guys were on the defense.

Oromis began speaking with Vanir's team. "I want you guys to play a 2-3 zone. I want trapping on the perimeter, especially on Eragon. Double him up if you need to, but make sure he passes the ball," he told the team.

Turning to Eragon's team, he told them, "Your team is on offense. Read the defense and try to score."

He tossed a ball to Eragon, who took it up above the top of the key. Immediately, he saw the defense lining up in a zone, so he passed to the wing, and then cut down the middle of the zone. After cutting, he filled out on the opposite corner. After a few moments, he came up to the wing, where he caught the ball and immediately threw it to Murtagh on the opposite wing after two guys collapsed on him. Murtagh immediately went up for the shot and hit the open three.

"Good passing. Let's try it again," encouraged Oromis. This time, instead of passing the ball, he dribbled to the left, where two defenders began to guard him. Quickly, he spun off one of them and drove into the lane. Another defender came up to help, so Eragon made a bounce pass down to one of his teammates who made an easy layup.

Occasionally, Oromis would spout off advice, like, "We play as a team. If we don't pass the ball, how can you expect to win?"

After 30 minutes of that, the coaches combined the two groups and had one last scrimmage. This time, Eragon shot less, although he did have 15 points. Instead, he focused on passing and getting open shots for his teammates.

During the scrimmage, the coaches sat together, watching them play and talking to each other. When the scrimmage finished, they gathered everyone. Oromis said, "I want to thank everyone who came and tried out. Unfortunately, we only have a limited amount of slots open. We, the coaches, have discussed this, and we have made our decisions." He pulled out a piece of paper, and explained, "This is the list of the new varsity players. If your name is not there, I am sorry. There is always next year." He handed around the paper, and soon the sounds of disappointed groans and angry cussing filled the air.

Eragon finally got a look at the list and found his name at the very end of the list. The players who had been cut began to straggle out of gym. Just then, Oromis called, "Varsity players, I would like a word with you guys."

A group of about 10 guys grouped in front of the coach. "I think that we need to choose a captain to lead us," explained Oromis. "I know that you may not know each other very well, but you have seen each other play the last couple of days. So, I ask: who is going to be the captain?"

Immediately, a voice called out, "Eragon!" He turned and saw that the voice belonged to Murtagh, who had made the team as well. A couple other guys began to agree with Murtagh.

Oromis saw this and asked, "Okay, let's take a vote. Who thinks Eragon should be captain?" Immediately, 8 people raised their hands, everyone excluding Vanir and Eragon himself, who didn't want to seem cocky by voting for himself. "That answers the question. Now, Eragon, will you be the captain?" asked Oromis.

All of the players looked at him, including Vanir, who had an angry look on his face. "I will do my best," answered Eragon.

Oromis looked pleased as he responded, "Take a look around you, everyone. This is your new team. Win together, lose together, you are a team. Remember that."

"Now, get out of here and go back to sleep. I'll see you at practice on Monday."

One of the guys yelled, "West Ilirea on three!" The teenagers gathered together and joined in the chant. "1, 2, 3, West Ilirea!" they yelled.

As the players began to disperse, Murtagh approached Eragon and said, "Hey bro, my dad is here, so I have a ride."

Eragon smiled and replied, "Cool. See you on Monday!"

Soon, everyone had left the gym except for Eragon. He grabbed a ball and began working on free throws.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Varsity himself," came a voice from the doorway. Eragon looked over and saw Arya standing there, watching him.

He grinned and replied, "If it isn't the world's greatest dragon sculptor herself," as Arya walked towards him. "What are you still doing here?" he asked.

She folded her arms and replied, "I could ask you the same thing."

He chuckled and shot a jumpshot. "I'm just working on my free throws," he replied. Arya went and grabbed the basketball, dribbling it up and down as she walked towards him.

"Well, that's what I was going to do, actually," she joked. "But first, how do you shoot a free throw?" Arya asked.

Eragon laughed again. Standing behind her, he gently pulled her arms into the proper shooting position. "Once you're in position, you shoot the ball," he told her. Following his instructions, she jumped up and shot the ball, which banked off of the backboard and rattled into the hoop.

"Looks like someone is a baller," Eragon joked as he rebounded the ball.

"No, it looks like someone has a good teacher," Arya flirted back. Eragon dribbled back to the free throw line and kept shooting. "So, what did Oromis want to talk to you guys about?" she inquired after a couple of shots.

"He wanted us to pick a captain," Eragon explained.

"And?" Arya asked.

He chuckled as he picked up the ball. "You're looking at him."

Arya looked surprised and pleased. "Really? That's great! Congratulations!" she exclaimed. Finally, after another dozen shots, Eragon picked up the ball.

"That's enough shots for today," he said. "I gotta get to work," he explained. As they exited the gym, he asked her, "You need a ride?"

"Yeah, thanks, I think Trianna ditched me," she replied.

"No problem. I can drop you off on the way," he responded.

* * *

><p>So, what are you doing today?" Eragon asked Arya as he drove the truck down the road.<p>

Arya thought about it for a moment before responding, "I have this planning meeting this afternoon for the homecoming dance. Principal Ajihad asked me to help put it all together."

"Homecoming, huh?" Eragon asked. "When is that anyway?"

"It's in two weeks, the day after your first game against Gilead," she explained.

While the conversation was happening, Eragon's heartbeat rapidly increased, as he thought about Arya, in a dress, at homecoming. It took all of his willpower to stay focused. "Well, if you are planning it, then I am definitely going," Eragon joked, which elicited a laugh out of Arya.

Just then, the truck pulled up to Ellesmera, the gated community where Arya lived. The gates were closed as they pulled up to the code box.

"Oh, the code is 2869," Arya told Eragon, who then punched it in. The gates swung open, and Eragon pulled forward.

"You should be more careful about who you give that code to," Eragon told her. "For all you know, I could be a total creeper!"

"I highly doubt that," Arya replied. "That's my house on the right." Eragon pulled into the driveway. "Thanks for the ride," Arya told him as she jumped out.

"Any time. Good luck with homecoming," Eragon replied.

She smiled and said, "Thanks. And congrats again, Captain Eragon." With that, she closed the door and walked up to her door.

He chuckled at his new title. _Captain Eragon_, he thought. _I could get used to her calling me that._

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, I am so sorry for the lack of updates in the past week. I promise that the next update will be much sooner. I have tried to make Arya's emotions a little more realistic, so tell me what you think. Thanks to the many reviewers from last chapter.**

**Eluvita: I would imagine that Eragon is about 6', 6'1"-ish**

**Rennir: Thanks for pointing that out. I usually try to avoid repetition like that, but I obviously missed a part.**

**IronMikeTyson: Totally true. I run cross country at school besides basketball, and it's pretty easy to get a small six pack without doing huge amounts of abs, as long as you have a lot of cardio.**

**Gorth & Cuaroc: I have a scene similar to that in this chapter. You will see what happens, let me know what you think.**

**Green Magic/Ninja: Ah yes, the box and one. That will be coming up in this chapter...**

**Sgt. Sporky: Let me know if Arya's emotions are a little more realistic in this chapter.**

**Ajihad Swordscratcher: Lots of Trianna in here!**

**SimplySupreme: I totally used to avoid AU fics like these, but then I read a couple high school fics like this for some other TV shows, and I really liked it. I will try to make this fic as interesting as possible though!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 10<p>

* * *

><p><em>Previously...<em>

_Eragon finally got a look at the list and found his name at the very end of the list. The players who had been cut began to straggle out of gym. Just then, Oromis called, "Varsity players, I would like a word with you guys."_

_Oromis saw this and asked, "Okay, let's take a vote. Who thinks Eragon should be captain?" Immediately, 8 people raised their hands, everyone excluding Vanir and Eragon himself, who didn't want to seem cocky by voting for himself. "That answers the question. Now, Eragon, will you be the captain?" asked Oromis._

_All of the players looked at him, including Vanir, who had an angry look on his face. "I will do my best," answered Eragon._

_..._

_So, what are you doing today?" Eragon asked Arya as he drove the truck down the road._

_Arya thought about it for a moment before responding, "I have this planning meeting this afternoon for the homecoming dance. Principal Ajihad asked me to help put it all together."_

_"Homecoming, huh?" Eragon asked. "When is that anyway?"_

_"It's in two weeks, the day after your first game against Gilead," she explained._

* * *

><p>"Okay, I want a PowerPoint presentation on your assigned surrealism artist. I want 8 slides at a minimum, with all of your sources cited. This will be due at the beginning of class on Friday, when you and your group will be presenting your project to the class. Any questions?" explained the art teacher.<p>

Eragon groaned quietly. It was Wednesday afternoon, and he was swamped with homework. With basketball practice after school everyday, he was finding it harder and harder to maintain the grades he was used to getting.

"So, who do you guys want to do the presentation on?" asked a freshman named Nolfavrell. He and another girl sat in front of Eragon and Arya. They had been assigned to be a group of four for the project.

Eragon turned and glanced at Arya. She merely shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I don't care. You guys can pick."

Eragon frowned at Arya's words. He was concerned with her recent behavior. After hanging out with her after the tryouts on Saturday morning, he had been extremely optimistic about their developing relationship. It was obvious to him that she was interested in furthering their relationship even further, as she had gone out of her way to talk and flirt with him, especially on Saturday morning. _There's no way that Trianna would just leave Arya like that,_ he thought. _Arya totally planned that._

However, things had changed since Saturday. Ever since, she had seemed cold and removed, very apathetic about life in general. _I wonder what happened to make her act like this?_ Eragon thought again. He shook his head to get the thought out of his head and concentrated on the conversation.

Nolfavrell nodded and said, "Okay, how about Max Ernst?" he suggested to the group.

Eragon nodded his head and replied, "Sure, that sounds great. Max Ernst it is."

The other girl in the group jumped into the conversation and asked, "When do you guys want to work on this thing, seeing as the teacher isn't giving us any class time?"

Eragon thought about it for a moment before responding, "Do you guys wanna work on it tonight? We can do it at my house if you want to."

Hearing his suggestion, Nolfavrell and the girl nodded enthusiastically, obviously excited to be hanging out with the captain of the basketball team, even if it was just for a school project.

"Okay cool, let's plan on 7 tonight. Are you good with that, Arya?" asked Eragon of Arya, who had been staring out the window, paying no attention to the conversation.

"Huh? 7? Sure," Arya replied softly. Eragon sighed and turned to his attention back to his class work.

* * *

><p>"Do it again!" yelled Oromis as he blew his whistle loudly. "Eragon, can I have a word with you? The rest of you, run the drill again!" he exclaimed.<p>

Eragon jogged over to Oromis. "What's wrong, Coach?" inquired Eragon, even though he knew the answer already.

"What is up with you today, Eragon? I mean, you can't even stay in front of Vanir!"

Eragon sighed before replying, "Sorry Coach, I'm just having a rough day." Eragon knew that he was a little upset over Arya's behavior, and that was what affected his playing.

Looking concernedly at him, Oromis said, "Well, you can't let it affect you. We are a week and a half away from our first game against Gilead. They have one of the best guards in the state, named Durza. I am relying on you to lock him down. We are going to be playing a box and one, and I want you to take Durza. Got it?"

Eragon nodded and replied, "Yes, Coach."

"Then get out there and play some defense on Vanir!" Eragon jogged over to the rest of the team, who were running some plays. At that time, they were running an isolation, leaving Eragon to guard Vanir.

Coach Jormundur restarted the play, subbing in Eragon. "Okay, let's see it!" he exclaimed.

Eragon got into his defensive stance, focusing on the ball handler. Quickly, Vanir began to drive to his right. Eragon slid to his left to cut him off just in time.

Suddenly, he collided with another player, who had obviously performed an illegal moving pick on him. Eragon went flying to the floor from the contact as Vanir scored an easy layup.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Eragon as he got back up. "That was a total moving pick!" he exclaimed in the face of the player who had knocked him down. The other player shoved him back a little, enraging Eragon even more, who lunged forward at him.

"Hey, break it up!" yelled Oromis as other players split the two up. "This is no way for a team to behave! The big game is less than two weeks away, and you two are sitting here fighting like a couple of idiots!" he exclaimed. "Everyone on the line!"

The team groaned as they lined up on the baseline to do suicide sprints. Everyone glared at Eragon as Jormundur blew the whistle for the first sprint.

* * *

><p>Ding dong!<p>

Eragon groaned as he heard the doorbell ring. He had completely forgot about the art project. Getting up from the couch where he was doing homework, he walked over and opened the front door. Standing on the front porch were Nolvafrell and the girl, Elena. Putting on a smile, he said, "Hey guys, come on in!"

As they walked in, Eragon saw a car pull into his driveway. As he watched, Arya got out of the BMW sedan and trudged up the front steps. She wore jeans and a sweatshirt, which Eragon loved seeing on her. _Actually_, he thought, _any clothes she wears make her look great._

"Hey," he said simply as she reached the door.

"Hey yourself," he said coldly as she stepped inside.

An hour and a half later, they were almost done with the project. They only had one slide left, but they were arguing over how a kid at school spelled his last name.

"I'm telling you, that's not how he spells it!" insisted Arya. Eragon smiled: she seemed to have warmed up to him a little during the last hour.

"No, I am 100% correct," replied Nolfavrell.

"Okay, I am totally checking this!" Arya exclaimed. She grabbed the mouse to the Eragon's family computer and logged into Facebook. "Hah! I told you! It is spelled Tebow," she said matter of factly to Nolfavrell.

"Whatever," Nolfavrell replied as he finished the last slide and saved it. "Okay, that just about does it for the PowerPoint. My mom is here, so I gotta go," he said as he checked his phone.

"Me too," said Arya and Elena at the same time. The three got up and walked towards the door, putting on their shoes.

"See you guys tomorrow," said Eragon to Nolfavrell and Elena as they jogged to their cars.

"See ya around," said Arya with a smile as she waved to Eragon and jogged to her car as well.

"Yeah, you too," Eragon replied before shutting the door and walking back inside. He trudged into the kitchen, grabbing some food from the fridge before heading back to the computer to put the presentation on a USB drive.

"So, who is this Arya girl?" Garrow asked behind Eragon as he worked.

Eragon sighed and replied, "She's just a girl from school."

"She seems like more than a friend to me. Do you think she is pretty?," Garrow joked.

"Yes, Uncle, I find her very attractive. But it's kind of complicated right now, so I would enjoy a little privacy," Eragon explained.

"Whatever you say," Garrow replied before walking away. Eragon chuckled to himself as he finished transferring the document. He closed the window and gave a gasp suddenly.

Arya's Facebook page was still open. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up, he thought to himself. He opened her messages and glanced over the recent conversations.

Trianna was near the top of the list. Intrigued, he clicked on it and began reading. The conversation went back a few days, but he saw his name at the top of the page, and he started reading.

* * *

><p><strong>Trianna: so how did ur little adventure with Eragon go?<strong>

_Arya: haha great, i had him teach me how to shoot :)_

**Lucky! Sounds like u like him a lot**

_Yea i think i do 2. Im hoping he asks me 2 homecoming!_

**Wow that is kinda surprising**

_Wat do u mean? If u r talking about him being a sophomore, i dont really care_

**No i was just surprised that u like him so soon after**

_After what?_

**After the accident. I thought u wouldve been a lot more depressed after faolin died**

_Is there a problem with that? Its none of ur business_

**Im just tryin to be a friend arya, please dont get mad**

_Its kinda late for that_

**All im saying is that I wonder if faolin would be okay with you and eragon together**

_What r u talking about?_

**I know that if i died and my boyfriend started going out with another guy so soon, I would be mad**

_I gotta run. See ya later_

* * *

><p>With that, Eragon reached the end of the conversation. Letting out a deep breath, he sat back in his chair and thought about what he had just read. <em>No wonder Arya has been acting so cold lately,<em> he thought. _She totally feels guilty. I don't blame her either._

Then he began to think about Trianna. _She is obviously trying to keep Arya and I apart. She is going to be a problem in the future. But I obviously can't mention this conversation to either of them without making myself look like a huge creep._

Getting up from his chair, he grabbed his backpack and began to work on his homework, trying to forget all of the drama he had just learned about.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! And I promise the next chapter will be up sooner. Also, would you guys let me know if you would enjoy having some MurtaghNasuada drama, as well as getting Saphira a boyfriend. Please review and let me know!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Once again, sorry for the delay. I know I promised a faster update, but I kinda flaked. For those of you interested, I will be releasing chapter two of one of my other fics, Demise. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and as always, please review!**

**xAdonis: Yeah, go Tim Tebow! Haha, I just had to put that in somewhere.**

**Mandomness: Tell me how you like the MxN in this chapter.**

**IronMikeTyson: Oh yes, I have lots of plans for Trianna.**

**SimplySupreme: Hmm, I have an interesting idea about Firnen and Saphira now...**

**Argetsverd: Yes, I am considering bringing in Firnen later. For now, Saphira is gonna have to deal with someone else...**

**And thanks to the rest of the reviewers: aryabrisinger, Green Magic, Ikaness, Zoey, Brightwatcher, Cuaroc, keyblademasta12, Red Pen Ninja, Cara Amnell, Mattchew Inheritance, Renir, Blood Ransom, Raudhr Blodhgarm, and Hailey.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

"What is up with you today, Eragon? I mean, you can't even stay in front of Vanir!"

Eragon sighed before replying, "Sorry Coach, I'm just having a rough day."

"What the hell was that?" demanded Eragon as he got back up. "That was a total moving pick!" he exclaimed in the face of the player who had knocked him down. The other player shoved him back a little, enraging Eragon even more, who lunged forward at him.

"Hey, break it up!" yelled Oromis as other players split the two up. "This is no way for a team to behave! The big game is less than two weeks away, and you two are sitting here fighting like a couple of idiots!" he exclaimed. "Everyone on the line!"

The team groaned as they lined up on the baseline to do suicide sprints. Everyone glared at Eragon as Jormundur blew the whistle for the first sprint.

…

Arya's Facebook page was still open. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up, he thought to himself. He opened a conversation between Arya and Trianna and began reading.

* * *

><p>"What's up, dude," greeted Murtagh as he gave Eragon a light pat on the back. Sitting down next to him, he pulled off his backpack and prepared for Ms. Angela's rigorous science class.<p>

"Oh, hey man," replied Eragon, looking up from the notes that he had been intently studying. "I heard there's a pop quiz on the reading assigned last class," he confided in Murtagh.

"Are you kidding me!" exclaimed Murtagh dejectedly. "I totally skimmed the reading!" He looked over at Eragon, who had reglued his eyes to his notes. Murtagh sighed and pulled out his textbook, trying to cram what little amount he could.

A few minutes later, the bell rang and Angela walked into the room. "Good morning, class. I hope you all had a good weekend," she said as she walked behind her desk. After taking attendance, she announced, "Please put everything away except for a pencil. We will be having a pop quiz!"

The class collectively groaned and they put away their notes. "Looks like your source was right," muttered Murtagh.

"Unfortunately," replied Eragon dryly as Angela began to hand out the quizzes.

Thirty minutes later, the last person turned in their quiz. "That was horrible," exclaimed Eragon. "Most of that wasn't even in the reading!"

"Tell me about it," said Murtagh angrily. He was interrupted as Ms. Angela began to give instructions.

"Okay, I want you to get back with your partner and continue working on the project from last class," she explained.

Eragon and Murtagh began to work on their assignment. "So, how are things going between you and Arya?" Murtagh asked, trying to make conversation.

Eragon sighed before replying, "Not too hot, to be honest. We have barely talked in the last week."

"Oh," realized Murtagh. "So, you're not going to ask her to homecoming?"

"Nope, I think she is feeling guilty after Faolin' death."

"Oh, gotcha," Murtagh replied. "Speaking of homecoming, I have a favor to ask of you."

Eragon got a mischievous glint in his eyes "Yeah? What is it?"

Murtagh appeared very flustered. "Well, I uh... Was thinking of... Maybe asking Nasuada to homecoming."

Eragon grinned. "So when are you going to ask her then?" he asked.

"You see, that's the problem," Murtagh explained. "I have no idea if she is into me. So, I was kinda wondering if you could maybe find out?"

Laughing, Eragon replied, "What makes you think that I could find out?"

"Come on, bro. You are good friends with her, I'm sure you could find out!"

Eragon considered it for a moment. "Okay, I'll try, but you owe me one."

* * *

><p>"Ugh! Why are girls so complicated?" Eragon exclaimed as he laid on the couch in Saphira's living room. The TV was on, and Saphira was watching Gossip Girl.<p>

She laughed for a moment, her eyes never leaving the television screen. Slowly, she turned to him and said, "Why are guys so simple?"

"Touché," replied Eragon. He looked back down at the homework in his lap and continued studying. It was Monday night, and he was hanging out at Saphira's house after practice.

"So, let me get this straight," Saphira began. "Arya is totally into you, but you aren't going to ask her to homecoming because you think she feels guilty about Faolin."

Eragon thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yep, that pretty much sums it up."

Saphira chuckled. "You have way too much drama in your life!"

"And you don't? Wait- do you have a date to the dance?" Eragon asked.

Saphira smirked. "As a matter of fact, I do. Thorn asked me last week."

Eragon let out a long laugh. "Thorn? He is probably gonna be drunk by the time you get to the dance!"

Saphira punched him in the arm. "Yeah, I know. But I didn't want to be a jerk and turn him down. Doesn't mean I'm going out with him or anything. It was him or that weird kid from my math class."

"So you don't like any guys at our school?" Eragon asked out of friendly concern.

"Not really. I mean, there are plenty of guys, but none that are up to my standards."

"Which are?" Eragon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Saphira began to recite a list. "Cute, smart, nice, athletic..."

Eragon faked a hurt look. "Uh, hello? So I am not cute, nice, smart, or athletic?"

"Oh shut up. You don't count, you are like a brother to me," she explained.

"Oh sure, excuses," joked Eragon with a grin on his face. After several minutes, he asked her a question. "Hey, Saph, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what?" she replied.

"I need you to find out who Nasuada likes," Eragon explained.

Surprise flitted across Saphira's face. "I thought you were into Arya!"

"I am! This is for Murtagh!" Eragon exclaimed.

"Oooh, Murtagh and Nasuada? They would make a cute couple!" Saphira joked. "Sure, I'll find out for you."

"Thanks. But try not to be too obvious," warned Eragon jokingly.

* * *

><p>Murtagh gulped. It was Wednesday, lunchtime. He looked down at his hand, which was slightly shaking and was holding a single rose in it.<p>

_Why did Eragon actually have to find out for me!_ he thought to himself. _Now I actually have to ask her!_

Trying ignore his own nervousness, he walked forward towards where Nasuada was sitting. As he did, he remembered the conversation that had brought this whole predicament about:

...

"Good news, bro," Eragon whispered to Murtagh as he sat down in science class earlier that morning. "My source has gotten back to me," he said mysteriously.

"And..." Murtagh asked.

"She is totally crushing on you," Eragon explained.

Murtagh let out a huge sigh of relief, only to feel a new pit in his stomach. "Crap, now I have to ask her to the dance!" he exclaimed.

"And you better do it today," Eragon added. "You are cutting it pretty close already. Today is Wednesday, and the dance is on Saturday!"

Murtagh ran his hands through his face, unsuccessfully trying to dispel some of the stress. "How am I even supposed to ask her?" Murtagh asked Eragon.

Chuckling, he held his hands up. "Don't ask me! I would probably just tell you to buy her a rose or something."

...

Murtagh silently cursed Eragon again before gathering his courage and closing the distance between Nasuada's table. Hiding the rose behind his back, he began speaking.

"Hey, Nasuada, could I speak with you?" he asked nervously.

"Sure," she said in a polite voice, motioning for him to sit down next to her friends.

"Uh, privately?" Murtagh stuttered.

Nasuada gave an evil smile before saying, "Right here is fine."

Murtagh appeared very flustered and nervous. _What the heck_, he thought. Pulling the rise from behind his back, he got on one knee in front of Nasuada and asked, "Will you go to homecoming with me!"

All of the girls at the table gasped and waited eagerly for Nasuada's reaction. With a smile on her face, she replied, "Of course! I thought you'd never ask!" She embraced him in a hug, bringing a huge grin to Murtagh's face.

…

From the other side of the lunchroom, Eragon and Saphira were cracking up.

"That was the cheesiest thing I have ever seen!" Saphira exclaimed.

"I know, I didn't think he would actually take my advice seriously!" Eragon responded. They watched the two for several more moments, before Eragon added, "Well, at least one of us gets to go to homecoming with the person they like."

"Touché," Saphira added with a chuckle.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. I know, I know, it's a little short. Get over it.<strong>

**Next up, Eragon's first basketball game against Durza, and after that, homecoming! Please let me know how you liked the MxN in this chapter. Was it too rushed, or did you like it? Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for all the reviews. Once again, I apologize for the wait, I was just too lazy to update. Here's the first game, hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

Murtagh appeared very flustered. "Well, I uh... Was thinking of... Maybe asking Nasuada to homecoming."

Eragon grinned. "So when are you going to ask her then?" he asked.

"You see, that's the problem," Murtagh explained. "I have no idea if she is into me. So, I was kinda wondering if you could maybe find out?"

Laughing, Eragon replied, "What makes you think that I could find out?"

"Come on, bro. You are good friends with her, I'm sure you could find out!"

Eragon considered it for a moment. "Okay, I'll try, but you owe me one."

...

Murtagh appeared very flustered and nervous. What the heck, he thought. Pulling the rose from behind his back, he got on one knee in front of Nasuada and asked, "Will you go to homecoming with me!"

All of the girls at the table gasped and waited eagerly for Nasuada's reaction. With a smile on her face, she replied, "Of course! I thought you'd never ask!" She embraced him in a hug, bringing a huge grin to Murtagh's face.

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

"And now, I present to you, your varsity basketball team!" exclaimed Principal Ajihad into the microphone, blasting the sound of his voice off of the gym walls. The crowd erupted into deafening cheers. Hundreds of students packed the bleachers on either side of the basketball court, and the cheer leading squad stood in front, pumping up the crowd.

In the door to the gym stood the varsity team. Each player wore jeans and and a T shirt, with their jerseys over them. In the front of the team stood Vanir in his usual arrogant pose. Upon hearing the announcement, he jogged out onto the court, raising an arm to the crowd and obviously loving the limelight. Behind Vanir, the rest of the team made their way onto the court, increasing the volume levels even more. Finally, the turn came for Eragon, who stood at the back of the line, to make his entrance.

He lightly jogged in behind Murtagh, trying to not act too cocky. To his embarrassment, several high pitched screams began yelling his name, causing a blush to creep onto his face. He kept his head down, attempting to hide his blushing, and followed the rest of the team towards half court, where they had gathered.

Eragon stood next to Murtagh at the end of the line that had formed. He chuckled as he saw Murtagh desperately looking for someone in the crowd. Finally, Murtagh's eyes alighted on what he was searching for, and Eragon was highly amused to see Nasuada waving to him.

As for Arya, he had spotted her the minute he had jogged into the gym. Middle section, fourth row, nine people from the end. As much he had tried not to, his eyes finally flicked over to him, and was pleased to find her grinning back at him.

His attention was diverted as Principal Ajihad mentioned his name: "And now, your captain, Eragon Garrowsson!" Ajihad exclaimed. A million thoughts began to race through Eragon's mind, the most prominent being, _Crap! No one told me I had to give a speech!_

With these thoughts, Eragon slowly stepped up to the microphone. He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say, before addressing the crowd. "What's up West Ilirea!" he exclaimed, to an explosion of cheers and clapping. "On behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your support," he said to more applause.

He waited for the crowd to quiet down before continuing in a sober voice. "The last month has been hard for everyone here, and it has been a struggle to get to this point." The crowd became silent as the topic changed.

"I have just one thing to say," Eragon continued. "Let's win it for everyone we've lost!" Upon hearing this, the student body erupted into cheer and began cheering West Ilirea!

Eragon sat on the bench, preparing for the game. Thirty minutes remained until tip off, and the stands were beginning to fill up. Eragon had earbuds in his ears, rocking out to warmup music. He began tying his shoes when he noticed someone sit next to him on the bench. Looking over, he was surprised to find Arya smiling at him.

"Hey, Captain," said Arya lightly as Eragon pulled out his headphones.

Eragon chuckled. "Hey yourself," he responded as he wound up his iPod.

"Whatcha listening to?" she asked, motioning towards the iPod.

"Eminem," answered Eragon with a grin.

"Really?" Arya replied. "I wouldn't have taken you for an Eminem fan."

"Well, I am just full of surprises, aren't I?" joked Eragon. He was interrupted, however, as Coach Oromis yelled for him to warm up. Hearing it, Arya stood up and turned to leave

"I'll let you go. Good luck!" she said before going to sit with her friends.

Eragon sighed before jogging over to the coach, who sat in his wheelchair on the baseline. "Yes, Coach?" asked Eragon as he arrived.

"That's Durza," Oromis said simply, gesturing to the other side of the court. Eragon followed his gaze to the player.

Durza was a 6' ball of energy. As Eragon watched him shoot jumpers, the fiery red mop of hair on Durza's head constantly distracted him. Ripped muscles covered his arms, and Eragon could tell that he had excellent handles.

""Remember, keep him out of the paint, and contest every shot," reminded Oromis. "You can handle him, I know it."

Eragon nodded slowly, before going to join the rest of the team in warmups. Fifteen minutes later, the teams formed lines on opposite sides of half court for the national anthem. As soon as the song ended, Oromis rolled to the center of the court and began speaking into the microphone.

"One month ago, five amazing teenagers lost their lives in a horrific accident," began Oromis. "The past few weeks have been hard for this whole community, but we have pulled together. Tonight, we come together in honor of these five special guys." Oromis began to get choked up with tears. "This one is for you guys," Oromis managed to say, looking upwards.

Ajihad took the mic from Oromis and said, "Please join us in a moment of silence, in remembrance of those we have lost." The crowd silenced, and Eragon hung his head. After a moment, the crowd began cheering. As Eragon looked up, he spotted Arya. Tears were streaming down her face.

Eragon tried to ignore the image as he walked towards the bench. The team began to gather around Eragon, forming a circle. He sighed as he realized he would have to give another speech. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and his hands shook slightly

"Listen up!" exclaimed Eragon to the players encircled around him. "This is our game! Our moment, ours for the taking. It's time to show this world who we are!" Eragon yelled. "Who are we?"

"West Ilirea!" yelled the players in unison.

"Let's do it!" Eragon exclaimed as the circle broke. He and the other starters made their way onto the court, ready for the tip. Despite his nervousness, Eragon stayed calm and collected. As other players jumped up and down and stretched their legs, Eragon walked slowly and calmly towards his spot behind Baldor, who was the starting center. As he tucked his shirt in, Eragon noticed Roran and Garrow cheering in the crowd. He gave them a small smile before turning his attention back to the game.

The Gil'ead players took their places next to the West Ilirea players. As Durza came to stand next to him, Eragon gave a small nod to Murtagh, who was also starting. As if in understanding, Murtagh gave a small grin and nodded back.

Finally, a referee walked up to the center circle with a ball in his hand. The tension in the air was so thick, Eragon could physically feel it pressing against him.

"Okay, good luck to everyone," said the ref. "I want a good, clean game." As the ref allowed Baldor and the opposing center to tap the ball, Eragon pointed to the sky before shifting his gaze to the ball.

The ref threw the ball in the air as the two centers jumped to tip it. Baldor reached the ball milliseconds earlier, tipping it back towards Eragon and Durza. Seeing the opportunity, Eragon leaped in front of Durza and caught the ball. Immediately, he passed the ball to Murtagh, who was on the left side of the court.

As soon as he released the ball, Eragon took advantage of the early confusion and took off down the right side of the court. When he reached the three point line, Murtagh lobbed the ball towards the basket as Eragon continued on his path. Eragon leaped and caught the ball, just the beyond the outstretched hands of Durza, and in midair, layed the ball off the backboard and into the hoop.

The crowd went crazy as the ball went in, giving Ilirea the early lead. "Let's go!" Eragon bellowed to his players. "D-up!"

As Durza began to bring the ball down the court, Ilirea got set in their defensive set. Eragon took up his stance above the top of the key, ready to take on Durza.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the semi-cliffhanger. I wanted to get an update out quickly, and the chapter was already getting pretty long. I will have the rest of the game up tonight or tomorrow at the latest. After that will be homecoming. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, I have no excuse this time for not updating. I was just plain lazy, and I apologize. Because of that, I made this chapter extra long. In fact, it is the longest chapter yet. Also, I am sorry if you do not like basketball, because that is what this chapter is all about. However, next chapter will have no basketball in it. It will be all about ExA and homecoming. So if you will just stick with it, I promise it will get better. **

**Thanks to all the reviewers, and please review this new chapter!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

"One month ago, five amazing teenagers lost their lives in a horrific accident," began Oromis. "The past few weeks have been hard for this whole community, but we have pulled together. Tonight, we come together in honor of these five special guys." Oromis began to get choked up with tears. "This one is for you guys," Oromis managed to say, looking upwards.

...

As Durza began to bring the ball down the court, Ilirea got set in their defensive set. Eragon took up his stance above the top of the key, ready to take on Durza.

* * *

><p>To Eragon, the only sound in the world was the bouncing of the ball as Durza approached. Behind him, his teammates got into their box formation, a form of zone defense, while Eragon played man defense on Durza.<p>

As Durza finally reached the top of the key, he bent over slightly, providing better ball protection. He yelled out a play, which Eragon quickly noticed. From his right, Eragon saw a player approaching to pick him. Quickly, he stepped back and around the player, just in time to cut off Durza, who had tried to use the pick.

Vanir, who was playing the top right corner of the box, came up to help Eragon trap Durza. Unfortunately, he left a gap in the zone. Seeing the weakness, Durza immediately threw a bounce pass to a cutting player, who caught it at the elbow and shot it. The ball soared into the hoop, tying the game at 2 points each. The visiting fans of Gil'ead gave a loud shout.

Murtagh grabbed the ball and inbounded it to Eragon from under the basket. As Eragon jogged down the court with the ball, he analyzed the defense: Gil'ead was obviously playing man to man, with Durza guarding him. Without a hesitation, he called out, "Alpha," the name for one of their plays.

Immediately, Murtagh, who was standing on the wing, ran baseline, brushing shoulders with Baldor and another forward, who successfully screened Murtagh's defender. As Murtagh cleared the screens, Eragon led him with a chest pass. Murtagh caught the ball just beyond the 3-point arc, squared up, and released the ball. The ball bounced off the front rim, but because of its spin, bounced off the backboard and in. The basket put West Ilirea up 5-2, and elicited a new round of cheers from the crowd.

The game continued to be close, with each team losing leads to the other. Eragon had played great defense on Durza, holding him to five points, yet he also had five assists. This was due to the inherent weakness of the zone that Eragon's teammates were playing. Durza was a great passer, and could easily beat West Ilirea's rotations.

However, towards the end of the first half, Eragon began to get hot. Because of West Ilirea's fast paced offense, Durza was very tired. Gil'ead's coach subbed him out to give him a rest, trusting another player to take on Eragon. He soon came to regret that decision.

On the first offensive series with this new defender, Eragon noticed as he jogged down the court that the new guy was playing off of Eragon significantly, allowing several feet of distance between them. He stood just below the top of the key, hoping to prevent Eragon from driving.

Immediately, Eragon took advantage of the mistake. He pulled up three feet behind the arc and released the ball into a shot. Because of the distance between them, Eragon was able to launch the ball over the outstretched hand of the defender. The ball soared through the air and net, increasing West Ilirea's lead by three.

The crowd erupted into cheers, and Eragon glanced over to see Arya grinning and clapping. Despite his efforts, he found a goofy smile sneaking onto his face at seeing Arya cheering on him. Luckily, he managed to wipe the smile off his face when he saw the new point guard jogging towards him.

Eragon quickly got into his defensive stance and analyzed the ball handler. He seemed to be extremely sure of his handling skills, a little too sure. Eragon's assumption was soon proved correct. As the guard approached Eragon, he arrogantly tried to cross Eragon over, without even calling a pick.

Quick as a cobra, Eragon's hand darted out and poked the ball away. Instantly, Eragon was on the move, gaining control of the ball and sprinting down the court. With no defenders in front of him, he decided to take a chance. As he passed the free throw line, he transferred the ball to one hand and launched himself into the air, dunking the ball with one hand.

Immediately, Gil'ead called a timeout. As Eragon looked over, he noticed Durza in a fit. He could not tell what was redder: his hair or his face. Eragon chuckled to himself as he jogged over to his bench.

* * *

><p>After the timeout, Durza came back into the game. Unfortunately, he was able to trim the lead by a few points, cutting it down to 8 points, 34-26. Also, it was soon apparent to Eragon that he was significantly more aggressive than at the beginning at the game.<p>

The first half was nearing its end. With three minutes left, everything began to fall apart for Eragon.

Murtagh came up with a steal on the wing. Quickly, Eragon sprinted out in front and received the outlet pass from Murtagh. Once again, nothing remained in front of him except for an empty court. However, Durza sprinted close behind, furious at his team's mistake. As Eragon elevated for the open layup, Durza rammed into him from behind. Eragon went spinning in midair as he lost his balance. The ball went careening off the backboard as Eragon landed awkwardly onto the wood floor.

However, the refs remained silent, calling no foul and allowing the game to continue. Oromis screamed at the referees from the sideline. "Are you blind? That was a flagrant foul!" Oromis yelled. As the game continued, Durza grabbed the rebound and launched it to his center that was still on the other side of the court, who easily caught it and laid it into the basket.

Only then did the crowd notice that Eragon was still lying on the ground, in the same place he had fallen. He was grabbing his ankle, releasing an anguished cry in the process. Oromis immediately called a timeout and wheeled towards his injured player, along with the rest of the teammates.

As Oromis reached Eragon, he knew the injury was serious. Eragon was in so much pain that he paid absolutely no attention to the activity around him. Oromis gently removed Eragon's hands away from the injured ankle, and immediately recoiled at the sight. The ankle had already begun to swell, and black and blue discoloration was forming.

The crowd immediately went silent, watching Oromis tend to his injured player. Eragon's pained cries resounded throughout the gym. Horror formed on Arya's face, and she kept shaking her head, as if to wake herself up from a nightmare. Roran immediately ran down to Eragon's side on the court.

Several minutes passed until Roran and another player finally managed to get Eragon to his feet, who tried to put weight onto the injured ankle, as if to prove to the crowd that he was okay. Eragon's leg immediately buckled, and he would have collapsed if not for Roran, who caught him as he fell.

The crowd applauded halfheartedly as their all-star player limped off the court, held up by his cousin and a teammate. A trainer joined them as the group made their way to the medical room. Gently, they lifted their captain onto an examination table. The teammate went back to the game, leaving Eragon alone with Roran and the trainer.

Several agonizing, excruciating minutes passed as the trainer performed tests on the injured ankle. Finally, after an especially painful test, the trainer stopped and looked Eragon in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, but there's no way you are playing on that ankle. It's only a sprain, but it will take time to heal," he explained. Eragon merely nodded, but kept his gaze glued on the floor. "I'll let you rest," said the trainer as he exited the room.

Roran placed his hand on Eragon's knee. "You okay?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, I just need time to process it all," responded Eragon as he slid off the table and hopped over to his locker. Roran took the hint that Eragon wanted to be alone.

"I'll be in the gym if you need anything," Roran said. When Eragon failed to respond, he quietly sidled out of the room, leaving Eragon alone, who sat on the bench, hunched over, with his head in his hands. Several moments after Roran's departure, he exploded into a fit of rage. He threw anything within his reach: jerseys, bags, even a trashcan. As he exploded, he let out a frustrated yell at his inability to play. After everything he had given, sacrificed, it had all ended with one stupid play.

After he had released all of his anger, he collapsed back onto the bench, breathing heavily. Several minutes passed until he was able to keep his emotions back in check. With a sigh, he grabbed a pair of crutches leaning against the wall, and made his way towards the gym.

* * *

><p>Eragon let out an audible groan as he entered the gym. Gil'ead had taken a 15-point lead, with only 11 minutes left in the game. He hobbled over to the bench and took a seat at the end, where Oromis was yelling at a player over some mistakes they had made.<p>

After a moment, Eragon became impatient with the coach's methods and took matters into his own hands. "Hey!" he exclaimed as loud as he could, successfully gaining the attention of the team. Eragon stood up on his crutches and limped over to the huddle.

"Forget about the last 10 minutes. This is a new game, got it?" Eragon asked. "They are expecting us to just roll over and die! Are we gonna do that?"

A resounding "No!" came from the players.

"Then get back out there and cut that lead down!" Eragon exclaimed.

...

Eragon's pep talk was actually partially successful, as West Ilirea went on a run and cut the lead to 8 points. However, Eragon knew that the run was not because of his inspiring speech. Rather, Durza had gotten into foul trouble, and was sitting on the bench. As soon as the lead dipped into single digits, Durza was subbed back into the game.

Eragon let out a groan as Durza immediately got hot. He hit two threes, and hit a couple threes. Eragon allowed himself a glance at the scoreboard and immediately regretted it. With 7:30 left, Gil'ead was in the lead, 70-58.

Eragon shook his head and ran his head through his hair. He turned around and watched the crowd. Quickly, his eyes alighted on Arya, who met his gaze and gave him a sad smile, as if she pitied him.

Of all the things that had happened during the game, that single smile angered Eragon the most. _No one pities me_, Eragon thought as he grabbed a roll of athletic tape next to him and began to work on his ankle.

"Coach, put me in."

Oromis immediately turned around to see who had spoken. Shock flitted across his face as he discovered Eragon staring expectantly at him. "Eragon, what the hell are you talking about?" Oromis asked.

"Coach, we are down by 12 with five minutes left. I'm our last chance," explained Eragon.

Oromis shook his head in disbelief. "You can't even walk. How do you expect to play basketball?"

Eragon stood up with a grimace as if to prove his point. "I can deal with the pain."

"Very well," replied Oromis, before motioning to the refs to use their second to last timeout. As the players walked shamefully over to the bench, Oromis gave Eragon one last opportunity to back out. "You don't have to do this, Eragon."

Eragon chuckled before replying, "We both know that I do."

Oromis hung his head in defeat as the team gathered around him. "Vanir, take a rest. You can barely walk," he said sympathetically.

"What?" Vanir said immediately, his head snapping up. "Who else is gonna bring the ball up?" he asked exasperatingly.

Eragon took a step forward into the center of the huddle. "I will," he declared. Just then, the whistle blew, signaling the end of the timeout. The huddle broke apart, and Eragon gingerly limped over to the scorer's table, checking into the game. As he did so, a disbelieving gasp ran throughout the crowd. Eragon looked up at Arya, who had a look of absolute shock written on her face. He quickly looked away and made his way to the baseline, where Murtagh stood, waiting to inbound the ball to him.

Eragon tried to keep himself from himself from grimacing in pain as he received the pass from Murtagh and began walking down the court. After few steps, he began lightly jogging. At first, he nearly collapsed onto his injured ankle, but by some miracle, he managed to stay on his feet. Finally, he crossed half court. Immediately, Durza began to press him, trying to take advantage of his injury. Eragon saw this and threw the ball to Murtagh on the wing, who threw it to Baldor, who was posting up. Baldor began to back his defender into the basket. In the meantime, Eragon ran to the corner, using Murtagh as a pick against Durza. Baldor immediately saw him and hit him with a perfect chest pass. Eragon immediately went up for the shot, jumping awkwardly off of only one ankle, barely beating the outstretched fingers of Durza. He watched as the ball arced into the air and bouncing off the front rim. However, the spin on the ball caused the ball to rattle into the hoop.

Eragon let out a relieved sigh as he jogged down the court gingerly. The lead was down to 9 points. Quickly, the team decided to play a full 2-3 zone this time around, due to the fact that Eragon would not be able to keep up with Durza on his bad ankle.

Eragon and Murtagh took the upper portion of the zone. Surprisingly, Durza was in too much of a hurry to recognize the change in defense. Instead, he drive to the right, where Murtagh was. Murtagh kept him out of the paint and forced him to pick up his dribble. Durza pivoted, and Eragon predicted his movement a second before it happened.

Durza threw the ball towards the opposite wing. Eragon, who had seen it coming, took an early jump and picked off the pass. Immediately, Murtagh took off for the basket. Eragon gratefully threw a perfect bounce pass to the streaking Murtagh, who caught it near the opposite three point line and was able to lay the ball in cleanly, without any cheap shots by Durza. Seven points to go.

Durza began to get impatient. He sprinted back down the court with the ball and immediately settled for a three pointer at the top of the key. The ball rimmed out of the hoop, and was rebounded by Baldor.

After receiving the inbound pass from Baldor, Eragon jogged down the court, cautiously drubbing the ball. He saw one of his guards streaking along the baseline, brushing shoulders with Baldor, freeing him from his defender. Eragon immediately threw the ball to him on the wing, just beyond the three-point arc. He went up for the shot, even though his defender had caught up and was well within range to block the shot.

Sure enough, the defender tipped the ball, altering the trajectory of the ball. Miraculously, the ball hit the backboard and banked into the basket. Meanwhile, the shooter fell to the ground, flopping and obviously trying to fake a foul.

Another miracle occurred as the referee blew his whistle, calling a foul on the worst flop in history. The guard stepped to the free throw line and coolly knocked down the free throw, completing the four-point play and cutting the lead to three points. However, only 55 seconds were left on the clock.

Durza, to his credit, was able to calm himself down and not make a stupid mistake again. He calmly brought the ball down the court, trying to waste as much time as possible. After working the ball around the key, Durza found a forward open by the basket, who laid the ball into the basket. The lead was back up to 5 points.

Eragon glanced at the clock. 20 seconds. Frantically, Eragon ran down the court and heaved a 20 footer in desperation. The ball clanked off the front rim. However, the ball sailed over the forwards' heads a directly to Murtagh, who stood just inside the arc. He took a step back and released his shot. Luckily, his shot swished into the hoop.

"Foul them!" Eragon began yelling as Gil'ead began to inbound the ball. Durza caught the ball by the baseline. Eragon immediately went for the steal, but slapped Durza's wrist in the process. Immediately, the refs blew the whistle, stopping the clock with 3 seconds left.

Durza strode arrogantly towards the opposite free throw line, confident in his abilities to sink the front half of the one-and-one.

The gym became so quiet, a pin drop could be heard. Durza went through his normal free throw routine and shot the ball. The ball grazed front rim, rolled over the hoop and to the side, where it fell into the outstretched hands of Baldor.

"Timeout!" Oromis immediately yelled from the sideline, stopping the clock with a mere 1 second left, down by 2.

"Listen up," Oromis began saying to the players. "This is the play we are gonna run..."

Because they had called a timeout, West Ilirea was able to inbound the ball from just past half court.

"You know what to do," said Eragon to Murtagh, who was throwing the ball in.

West Ilirea got into position. The ref handed the ball to Murtagh, setting the players into motion. Eragon set a screen for Baldor, who rolled to the basket. However. Gil'ead immediately snuffed it out.

Three seconds passed, and Murtagh still had the ball. If he did not get rid of it in 2 seconds, the game would be over. Panicked, Eragon ran towards half court. Murtagh immediately hit him with the pass, barely releasing it in time. Eragon caught the ball 25 feet away from the hoop, as the clock began ticking.

With no other options, he jumped as high as he could, trying to get higher than the elevating hands of Durza. Fading away, he heaved the ball up, praying that it would go in.

And it did. As the buzzer sounded, the ball rattled into the bucket, winning the game for West Ilirea.

As Eragon came down from the shot, his ankle folded underneath him, causing him to collapse and cry out in pain. With an extreme effort, he pushed himself onto one knee, an pointed to the sky.

"This is for you guys," he whispered as the crowd began to converge upon him.


	14. Chapter 14

**So... here's the new chapter. I am trying to update quicker, so only a week break this time. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. And please, please, leave me some reviews.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

Previously...

_As Oromis reached Eragon, he knew the injury was serious. Eragon was in so much pain that he paid absolutely no attention to the activity around him. Oromis gently removed Eragon's hands away from the injured ankle, and immediately recoiled at the sight. The ankle had already begun to swell, and black and blue discoloration was forming._

_..._

_And it did. As the buzzer sounded, the ball rattled into the bucket, winning the game for West Ilirea._

_"This is for you guys," he whispered as the crowd began to converge upon him._

* * *

><p>Eragon lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. In his hands he held a basketball, which he constantly tossed into the air, letting it fall back into his hands before repeating the process. On his ankle was wrapped some athletic tape, as well as a pack of ice to help the swelling.<p>

Seeing as Garrow did not have the money to pay for a doctor's visit, Eragon settled for some rest and an ice pack. He glanced over at the clock in boredom. 5:23.

He sighed as he continued to toss the ball into the air. From his door, there came a knock.

"What's up?" asked Eragon as Roran slipped into the room. He was wearing a tuxedo, obviously one of Garrow's, with an untied tie wrapped around his neck.

_Crap! I forgot about homecoming! It's tonight!_ Eragon thought to himself.

Roran raised his eyebrows at his younger cousin. "Why aren't you getting dressed?" he inquired as he simultaneously fiddled with his tie.

Eragon sighed and responded, "Ror, I can barely walk. How do you expect me to dance all night?"

Roran chuckled. "I don't know Eragon, but your ankle looked fine when you played basketball on it last night. If you can play basketball, I think you can handle a few little dances."

Eragon shook his head in annoyance. "Look, I don't even have a suit!"

"I think you are just scared."

"What!" Eragon's head shot up immediately.

Roran laughed evilly. "You heard me, you're afraid of getting rejected by Arya!" he mocked.

"Whatever," Eragon muttered as he resumed tossing the ball into the air.

"Dance starts at seven. I'm taking Katrina out for dinner, but I expect to see you there," Roran called over his shoulder as he sauntered out of the bedroom.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Eragon was still lying in the same position. From downstairs, he heard the garage door open and close as Garrow got home from a long day at work. He continued listening as the footsteps slowly made their way up the stairs towards his room.<p>

Finally, the footsteps stopped at Eragon's doorway. Eragon raised his head to find his uncle leaning against the doorframe, staring at him.

"Not going, eh?" Garrow asked simply. That was one of the things Eragon truly respected about his uncle: he was a man of few words. He didn't try to beat around the bush with his words; instead, he would confront the issue head on.

Eragon sighed. "Nope."

Several moments passed in silence before Garrow spoke up again. "Come with me. I have something to give to you." With that, he turned around and left a confused Eragon still lying on the bed.

Intrigued, Eragon slowly got up and hobbled down the hall after his uncle. He made his way into Garrow's room, where his uncle was opening up his closet. After several minutes of digging through clothes, Garrow finally pulled a box down from the top shelf and set it on the bed, sitting next to it.

He gestured to Eragon to sit down and open the box. Slowly, Eragon lifted the cardboard lid and peered inside. He reached into the box and took out the contents.

In his hands was a tuxedo.

"It was your dad's," explained Garrow.

Eragon set the suit down, as emotion began to overcome him. He stood up, pacing the room, while running his hands through his hair.

"Brom would have wanted you to wear it," continued Garrow.

"I don't know, Uncle," protested Eragon.

Garrow chuckled. "I know it's a little old, but I think you can pull it off."

Eragon stopped pacing and looked his uncle in the eyes. "I'm serious!"

But Garrow refused to take no for an answer. "And so am I. Go get changed and I'll give you a ride."

Eragon sighed and trudged back into his room, suit in hand.

* * *

><p>"ERAGON!"<p>

Eragon sighed, and tried not to turn around and walk right out of the school. He had barely walked into the dance when he was greeted by the shrill screams of some obsessive girls.

He tried to force a smile as one of the girls walked up to him. "Would you like to dance?" she practically begged. From the looks of it, she was a freshman, and had a huge crush on Eragon.

"I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to be dancing on my ankle at all," responded Eragon, trying to come up with excuses for why he couldn't dance with the random girl.

"Pleeaase!" the girl continued to beg.

Finally, Eragon relented. "Okay, one song. But I have to take it easy."

The girl nodded eagerly and pulled Eragon out onto the dance floor. Just as they began to dance, the music changed to a slow song. Eragon's young dance partner seemed absolutely delighted as she placed her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to his.

_Just my luck,_ thought Eragon as the girl leaned her head against his shoulders. He awkwardly put his hands on her waist, unsure of what he was supposed to do. He had never been a good dancer, unfortunately.

As the pair continued to dance, Eragon began to watch the rest of the dancers from over the girl's head. Over by the punch bowl, he saw Saphira, Murtagh, Thorn, Roran, Katrina, and Nasuada watching him. Without exception, every single one of them was crying from laughing too much. Eragon just shook his head and turned his back to his friends.

A minute later, the song ended and the girl separated herself from Eragon. "Thanks for the dance," the girl said bashfully.

"It was my pleasure," said Eragon, trying to make up for how much of a jerk he had been earlier. The girl walked away to a group of giggly girls, obviously waiting for the details. Eragon chuckled at himself as he walked towards his friends that were still laughing at him.

"Okay, it wasn't that funny," joked Eragon as he approached his friends.

"I hate to break it to you, but it kinda was," replied Thorn.

"Where did you get the tux?" inquired Roran, who had his arm around his girlfriend, Katrina.

"It was my dad's," replied Eragon.

"Oh," responded Roran, unwilling to continue the conversation after the change in moods. Thankfully, Saphira interrupted the awkward silence.

"Come on, guys. Are we gonna stand here all night, or are we actually going to dance?" she teased as she made her way onto the dance floor. Eragon groaned as he and the rest of the group followed.

* * *

><p>The next hour or so passed very quickly for Eragon. He spent the time dancing with his friends, only interrupted by the occasional girl wanting to dance with him. However, he did take it easy, as his ankle was beginning to hurt considerably. The entire time, however, he kept his eyes on Arya, who he had spotted on the opposite side of the room. She was wearing a strapless black dress that came down to just above her knees. To Eragon, she looked absolutely stunning. Several times, Arya would catch him staring, causing Eragon to quickly avert his gaze and attempt to hide the blush that would creep onto his face. However, he did not ask her to dance, remembering the Facebook conversation she had with Trianna.<p>

Finally, he excused himself to get some drinks, and also to give his ankle a break. He was pouring his drink when he felt an arm slip around his waist. Startled, he turned to find Trianna staring up at him, a devious smile on her face.

"What is a handsome boy like yourself doing all alone over here?" Trianna asked flirtatiously.

"Oh, I was just, uh, you know, resting my ankle," Eragon stammered, racking his brain for excuses to not dance with Trianna.

Trianna obviously was not listening as she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! It's Taylor Swift! It's my favorite song, we just have to dance to it!" She grabbed his hand and literally pulled him onto the dance floor, ignoring his complaints about his ankle.

As soon as they were on the dance floor, she wrapped her arms around him as if they were a couple, laying her head underneath his chin. Her hair kept tickling Eragon's nose, and he had to try very hard not to sneeze onto Trianna's head. The funny part was, it wasn't even a slow song playing at the moment. It seemed as of Trianna was just looking for an excuse to get close to Eragon.

Once again, Eragon's attention drifted to other parts of the room. Quickly, he spotted Arya, who was also staring at him. She gave him a small smile and turned away, headed out of the crowd. However, before she turned, Eragon could have sworn he saw a hurt expression on her face.

Oh great, he thought to himself. Look what I've done now.

The song couldn't end soon enough. As kindly as he could, Eragon excused himself from another dance with Trianna, bringing up his injured ankle again. This time, however, his ankle really was throbbing, and he felt like he might collapse on it.

Urgently, he hobbled out of the crowd, looking for Arya. He found her standing alone by the drinks, peering constantly at the door, as if deciding to leave or not. Cautiously, Eragon approached her.

Arya saw him coming and gave him a forced smile. "So, you and Trianna, huh?" she joked, giving a fake laugh. "I'm happy for you two," she faked.

Eragon gave a confused expression. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "It was just a dance."

This time, Arya gave up her facade. "You two looked pretty comfortable together," she noted coldly, locking gazes with Eragon.

Eragon sighed, trying to find a way to explain the situation. "Yeah, well, she was all over me," he stammered. _Wow, that sounded so stupid_, he realized.

Arya set her cup down and turned to leave. "Look, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I'm happy for you two, I really am." With that, she walked past Eragon, brushing shoulders with him as she passed.

"Arya, wait!" Eragon called. He followed after her and grabbed her hand, forcing her to turn around. "Would you like to dance?" he asked, staring expectantly into her green eyes.

Arya shook her head angrily. "You don't have to ask me just because you feel sorry for me," she said boldly, as she tried to shake off his grasp on her hand.

However, Eragon would not relent. "I am not asking out of pity. I am asking because I really do want to dance with you. I've been waiting all night, I was just too nervous to go ask you," he admitted, staring embarrassedly at the floor.

"I don't know, Eragon," Arya responded, still unsure.

"Look, nothing is going on between Trianna and I," Eragon argued. "She was the one who asked me to dance."

Arya sighed and agreed finally. "Okay, but only one dance."

"One dance," Eragon confirmed as he led her back to the dance floor. He limped significantly as he made his way over, drawing Arya's attention.

"Eragon, I can tell your ankle is hurting. You really don't have to do this," she protested.

Eragon merely chuckled. "If you come with any more excuses, I'm actually going to be offended," he joked. "Besides, if I can play a game of basketball on it, I think I can survive a single dance with you."

"Okay, but if Coach Oromis gets mad at you, it's not my fault," she joked, finally lightening up a light.

Finally, they reached the dance floor. A slow song had just begun to play, which Eragon was extremely grateful for. Arya wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her waist. He was having a hard time focusing on anything as a result of her beautiful dress.

An awkward silence formed between the two until Arya finally broke it. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Sure," he responded as they moved to the beat of the song.

"Why did you really go back into the game last night? And don't tell me it was because you didn't want to let the team down," she inquired boldly.

"I don't really know," Eragon stalled.

"Come on, just tell me. One minute you were just sitting back, watching the game. As soon as I caught your eye, though, you got all agitated and started taping up your ankle. So, what did I do to make you mad?" she asked insightfully.

_Dang, she is good_, Eragon thought. "I don't know, I just felt like I didn't want to let you down. When you gave me that look, it seemed like you were feeling sorry for me, like you had already given up. And I wanted to change that," Eragon admitted, feeling very embarrassed.

"So, you were doing it all for me?" Arya prodded with a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way," Eragon relented, shifting his stare to the floor. When he finally mustered the courage to look at Arya's face, he found her grinning at him. "What?" he inquired.

She shook her head slightly. "Nothing. You're just really sweet."

"Uh, thanks. I guess," responded Eragon.

Arya let out a small giggle and gently laid her head on Eragon's shoulder, causing his heart rate to double instantly.

Less than a minute later, however, the song ended. Arya raised her head off of his shoulder. "Looks like our dance is up," she said.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider another dance?" Eragon pleaded.

Arya smiled at him. "I'm sorry, I really have to go. I have to go pick my step brother up from the airport," she explained. She wrapped her arms around Eragon suddenly and embraced him in a tight hug. Eragon held her in his arms, and they remained locked together for several seconds. Finally Arya pulled away.

"Thanks for everything," she said softly, before leaning forward and giving Eragon a kiss on the cheek. With that, she turned around and walked away, not looking back once.

As he watched her walk away, Eragon could find that he could not stop smiling, as he absentmindedly put his hand to his cheek, where her lips had just been.

* * *

><p><strong>Now the drama begins! If you guys paid close attention, you might have noticed a small detail that will open up some future plot events. What could it be?<strong>

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for all the reviews, and sorry for the delay. This chapter is kind of a filler, but it definitely sets up potential plot points for later in the story. Hope you enjoy!**

**Mattchew Inheritance: I really have no idea how many chapters. I have an insane amount of plot events I can put in here. Potentially, this could be up to 50 chapters, but that's not an exact estimate, so don't hold me to it!**

**Ajihad Swordscratcher: Haha, I didn't even realize I put that quote in Demise until you said that. I knew it sounded familiar!**

**Joda-Eragonsson: I am still thinking of where to put Glaedr into my story... he will be in there at some point!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 15<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

"Arya, wait!" Eragon called. He followed after her and grabbed her hand, forcing her to turn around. "Would you like to dance?" he asked, staring expectantly into her green eyes.

Less than a minute later, however, the song ended. Arya raised her head off of his shoulder. "Looks like our dance is up," she said.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider another dance?" Eragon pleaded.

Arya smiled at him. "I'm sorry, I really have to go. I have to go pick my step brother up from the airport," she explained. She wrapped her arms around Eragon suddenly and embraced him in a tight hug. Eragon held her in his arms, and they remained locked together for several seconds. Finally Arya pulled away.

"Thanks for everything," she said softly, before leaning forward and giving Eragon a kiss on the cheek. With that, she turned around and walked away, not looking back once.

* * *

><p>"So, what are you gonna tell everyone about homecoming?" teased Roran as he drove the family truck to school early Monday morning.<p>

Eragon, who sat next to him, just shook his head. "It was just a dance, Ror. Not that big of a deal," he said, trying to make an excuse.

But Roran would not let it go. "Would you be mad if I told everyone about your little kiss on the cheek? Because Katrina and Nasuada would go crazy if they knew," Roran joked. "That is, if Saphira hasn't told them yet!"

"Shut up," grumbled Eragon as he punched his cousin in the arm. "I don't need you messing things up between Arya and I. Things are already confusing enough as it is."

"Whatever you say, Captain," mocked Roran further as they clambered out of the truck and walked towards the school. Eragon still walked with a slight limp, his ankle wrapped in athletic tape. The swelling had improved considerably since Saturday, but it still was painful to walk on.

Finally, Roran and Eragon entered the school building. Immediately, they were greeted by several kids, who were attracted to Eragon's newfound popularity. Eragon merely greeted them with a small, forced smile and kept walking into the commons.

After a few moments, the pair finally reached their usual group of friends. When Eragon joined the little circle they stood in, the girls went crazy.

"Eragon!" exclaimed Katrina. "Congratulations! You two make such a cute couple!"

Immediately, Eragon glared at Saphira, who he suspected had leaked the information. However, Saphira merely shrugged and replied, "Hey, it wasn't me!"

A look of utter confusion crossed Eragon's face. "Then who told you?" he asked of Katrina.

Katrina grinned and responded, "I heard it from like five separate girls yesterday!"

Eragon shook his head and rubbed his temples. "She is gonna be so pissed at me," he explained. "I don't think she wanted everyone to know."

Suddenly, Roran began chuckling. "Well, now is your time to go apologize," he said, pointing to where Arya was walking down the hall with a younger guy. "Go!" exclaimed Roran as he shoved his cousin in Arya's direction.

Eragon stumbled over to Arya, still unsure of what he would say to her. "Arya!" he called after her, which caught her attention and forced her to turn around.

"Eragon!" she said as she smiled. When he caught up to her, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. Eragon was surprised, but he quickly recovered and held her for a moment.

As she pulled away, she motioned to the guy next to her. "This is my stepbrother, Firnen," she explained, patting the boy on the back. He had spiky brown hair, but his eyes were the same shade of green as Arya's. "This is Firnen's first day here. He is moving in with me and my mom," she explained.

She turned to Firnen and continued speaking. "Firnen, this is Eragon, the one I told you about earlier.".

Firnen immediately grinned. "Oh, _that_ Eragon," he joked. "Yeah, I definitely remember your description of him!"

Arya blushed and punched him in the chest. "You can find your own classes," she said, walking away, but with a smile on her face.

Eragon said goodbye to Firnen and followed after Arya. "So, what did you say about me?" he asked curiously when he caught up to her.

"Nothing worth repeating," she replied coolly as she continued walking.

After a moment, Eragon opened his mouth to speak. However, Arya immediately interrupted him.

"I know you are going to ask about Firnen. It's a long story, but I'll tell you during art class today. I promise," Arya said, turning to face him as they reached her locker.

Eragon nodded sharply. "Okay, I will hold you to that," he replied. "That's not actually what I wanted to talk to you about," he continued.

"Oh yeah?" she asked as she finished retrieving items from her locker and shut the door. She turned and stood right in front of him, staring up at him, with less than a few inches separating them.

"Listen, I didn't intend for the whole school to find out us," he explained. "If you are mad at me, I totally understand."

Arya merely laughed quietly. "You are so sweet," she said. "Why in the world would I be mad at you? You didn't do anything!"

Eragon blushed, feeling embarrassed, and just shrugged.

"Oh, come here," Arya replied, wrapping her arms once more around him. This time, they remained connected for several seconds, enjoying the feeling of each other.

Finally, the bell for class interrupted their embrace. Arya pulled away, smiling at him. "I'll see you later," she said softly before walking away towards her class.

"Yeah, I'll see you too," Eragon replied as she walked away. He, too, turned and headed towards his first period class.

* * *

><p>Art class couldn't come soon enough for Eragon. It seemed as if every class lasted twice as long. His impatience grew so great that his friends soon began to notice.<p>

"You okay, Eragon?" asked Nasuada during lunch. Saphira, upon hearing this, let out a laugh.

"He's fine. I think he's just a little eager to get to art class, if you know what I mean," she joked, causing the table to erupt in laughter.

"Real mature," condoned Eragon, who continued picking at his food. "I guess I just won't tell you about the new guy I met today," Eragon teased.

This sparked Saphira's attention immediately. "What! There's a new kid here?" she exclaimed. "Okay, I apologize for joking around earlier. Just tell me who it is!" she literally begged of Eragon.

This time it was Eragon's turn to laugh. "Who's the eager beaver now, Saphira?" he mocked.

"Come on, spill the beans already!" said Saphira, who was starting to get annoyed with Eragon.

"Okay, okay. Just calm down!" chuckled Eragon. "His name is Firnen, and he is Arya's stepbrother," he explained.

"Oh my gosh! Is that the kid she was walking with this morning?" questioned Katrina from farther down the table.

Eragon nodded, and Saphira exclaimed, "He is so cute! Can you introduce me?"

"I don't know, Saph," hesitated Eragon, which only angered Saphira further.

"Let me put it this way," she said. "Either introduce me, or I will beat the crap out of you!"

The table began dying of laughter at Saphira's threat.

* * *

><p>By the time Eragon made it to the doorway of the art room, his heart was about to beat right out of his chest. He took a moment to take a deep breath to compose himself before walking into the room.<p>

_Why am I so nervous?_ Eragon thought to himself. As much as he tried to deny it, Eragon already knew the answer to his own question. He had never been in a serious relationship, and he was scared of screwing everything up, especially with Arya, the girl of his dreams.

As he approached their table, he saw Arya already seated, gathering her materials for the class period. However, she had not seen him enter the room yet. So, he decided to take a chance.

Feeling very anxious, he snuck up behind her when she stood up to grab something. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her stomach from behind. Arya immediately jumped and whipped around to see who was embracing her.

When she saw Eragon nervously smiling, she let out a relieved laugh.

"You scared the crap out of me, Eragon!" she exclaimed. "I thought you were some creeper grabbing me from behind."

Eragon's face fell. "Sorry, I won't try that again," he apologized.

Arya analyzed his face for a moment before responding. "No, it's sweet, I was just surprised," she said, as if recognizing his uncertainty about their relationship. "You don't have to apologize for every little thing," she continued.

Eragon, unsure of what to say, merely nodded and nervously shifted his gaze from her face to the floor. "Come on, let's go sit down," Arya said, as she took his hand and led him to the table.

That day, they were working on a drawing project, which, fortunately for Eragon, meant lots of individual work time. After a few minutes, the class got to work, giving Eragon the opportunity to speak further with Arya.

"So... About that promise you made earlier," Eragon started. When he got a confused look from her, he expanded. "To tell me about Firnen?"

"Oh yeah," realized Arya. "It's a long story, so keep all questions until the end."

Eragon chuckled. "Yes, Miss Arya," he joked.

"My dad, Evandar, died when I was just a kid, 4 years old," Arya began. "He was walking to his car after work one day. Some thug approached him with a gun, demanded that he give him his wallet. My dad calmly gave him everything, but somehow the thug got spooked. He shot my dad twice before running. When the cops got to my dad, he was already dead, and the robber was long gone."

"Arya, I am so sorry," Eragon replied. "I had no idea..."

"Don't worry about it. I can barely even remember his face anymore," Arya replied. "Anyway, it was just my mom and I for next couple years. Then, when I was 9, my mom got married to my stepdad, Firnen's dad. Firnen was only 7 at the time. Over the next 7 years, Firnen and I grew really close. I consider him my real brother."

"Last year, my mom and my stepdad filed for divorce. I knew they were having problems, but I didn't know that they were that serious. My mom is also very fond of Firnen, so she filed for custody, even though she is not biologically related to him."

"It was a long and ugly court battle, but my mom finally won. My stepdad travels constantly for his work, and the court decided that my mom could provide a stable home for him. And that brings to the present. He just moved in yesterday, and today is his first day," Arya concluded.

"Wow," was all Eragon could say.

"Tell me about it," responded Arya, still working on her drawing.

"Saphira seems very interested in him," Eragon hinted, trying to stifle a grin.

"Saphira and Firnen... I can see it," Arya replied, half joking, half serious.

For the next ten minutes, the pair worked silently on their projects. Finally, Eragon found the courage to break the silence and ask the question he had been thinking of all day.

"Arya?" Eragon asked. When he received no response, he continued with his inquiry. "What is going on with us?"

That got Arya's attention. She immediately looked over and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Eragon sighed before continuing. "I mean, what are we? Are we boyfriend-girlfriend, are we just really good friends, or what?"

Arya put down her pencil and looked him in the eyes. "Well, I thought I made it very clear that I am interested in being your girlfriend," she responded teasingly. "But since you haven't actually asked me, it's not official."

"Okay, then," replied Eragon. "Arya, will you be my girlfriend?"

Arya laughed a little before responding. "Of course."

"Good," Eragon grinned. "Because If you rejected me after that cheesy proposal..." he joked.

As they went back to work, Eragon kept glancing over at Arya, and found he could not wipe the smile off of his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks again for reading, and please review! The more I get, the quicker I will update!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey awesome readers. Sorry for the long wait. I am probably the worst procrastinator in the world... Thanks to everyone who reviewed. In this chapter, I really focused on making Arygon's relationship more realistic. In fact, they have their first fight! Also, I gave Eragon some added responsibility with his family, and added a lot of drama at the end... Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 16<p>

* * *

><p><em>Previously...<em>

_Eragon sighed before continuing. "I mean, what are we? Are we boyfriend-girlfriend, are we just really good friends, or what?"_

_Arya put down her pencil and looked him in the eyes. "Well, I thought I made it very clear that I am interested in being your girlfriend," she responded teasingly. "But since you haven't actually asked me, it's not official."_

_"Okay, then," replied Eragon. "Arya, will you be my girlfriend?"_

_Arya laughed a little before responding. "Of course."_

_"Good," Eragon grinned. "Because If you rejected me after that cheesy question..." he joked._

_As they went back to work, Eragon kept glancing over at Arya, and found he could not wipe the smile off of his face._

* * *

><p>The sound of breaking glass awoke Eragon from his sleep.<p>

Groggily, Eragon lifted his head from underneath his pillow and glanced over at the clock. 1:30 AM. Garrow had worked the graveyard shift that night at his second job, and was probably just getting home. Groaning, he collapsed back onto the bed, pulling the pillow on top of his head. No sooner had he done this than he heard more commotion downstairs.

Something must be up, Eragon thought to himself. Throwing off the covers, he grabbed a shirt and made his way downstairs, towards the source of the noise. On the way, the sound of more destruction made its way to Eragon's ears.

Quickening his pace, Eragon quickly arrived in the kitchen. What he saw immediately threw him for a loop.

Garrow stood on the far side of the room, back to Eragon, leaning against the wall. As Eragon watched, Garrow grabbed several items on the kitchen table and threw them as hard as he could against the wall, before collapsing against the wall, sitting with his head in his hands.

Cautiously, Eragon sidled over to his uncle and took a seat next to him against the wall. "What happened?" he asked softly.

For nearly a minute, Garrow remained silent. Finally, when Eragon was just about to ask again, he responded. "The store is closing. Which means that I lost my job."

Eragon sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall. In addition to his day job at the local factory, Garrow also worked regular night shifts as an attendant at a local 24-hour store. After Eragon had begun playing basketball, this second job had become even more crucial to making ends meet.

"I don't know how I am going to pay the bills," admitted Garrow.

Eragon thought for a moment before responding. "Just because I play basketball doesn't mean I can't work also," he explained. "I'll talk to Mr. Orrin tomorrow and see if I can start working shifts after practice."

Garrow shook his head. "No, Eragon. It's not your responsibility. I know I have been hard on you since Merian died, and I am sorry for that. But you are still a kid. You should not have to bear this burden," he opposed.

"We don't have a choice, Uncle!" exclaimed Eragon. "If we miss one more mortgage payment, we will lose the house! Don't think I haven't seen the delinquent bill notices," replied Eragon angrily. "And I am not a kid any longer. I've had to grow up, for better or worse. And now it is time for me to pull my weight in this family."

Garrow still had doubts. "How are you going to keep up your grades? Between basketball and work, you won't get home until late at night. Your grades will suffer," he replied.

"It's either that or living on the street," noted Eragon. "Look, I can do my homework after work. Better late than never.".

Finally, Garrow conceded. "Fine. You win. Go see Orrin tomorrow," he told Eragon, who merely nodded and stood up to go back to bed.

"And Eragon?" Garrow called, causing Eragon to turn around. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>"Yaaaaaawn."<p>

For the millionth time that period, Eragon let out a yawn. It was Thursday afternoon during art class, the last period of the day. Next to him, Arya noticed his fatigue.

"What is up with you? That is like tenth yawn in the past ten minutes!" she exclaimed jokingly.

Eragon merely shook his head. "Nothing, I just had a late night," he explained, trying to make the issue insignificant.

And a late night it had been. After Garrow's meltdown on Tuesday night, Eragon had gone to see Orrin immediately after practice. To his surprise, Orrin had been extremely happy to see Eragon. Apparently, his replacement was very sub par. And so, Eragon explained his situation and asked if he could start working more hours, including late nights during school.

To Eragon's even greater surprise, Orrin agreed right then and there. He told Eragon to go have dinner and get changed, because he needed him to work that night.

And that is exactly what Eragon did. When he arrived home at his house after work that night at 11:30, he was exhausted. He was so ready to collapse onto his bed, until he realized he had homework.

For the next two hours, he stayed up doing homework, until 1:30 AM. He was so tired that he fell asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

…

"Really? Well, you better get some sleep tonight, because you have a game tomorrow," advised Arya.

Eragon shook his head in annoyance. He was tired of this; Arya had no idea what he was going through. Her mom had all the money in the world, and she had probably never had to get a job.

"It's not like I have a choice in the matter," Eragon retorted. "I have to work again tonight."

"And why is that?" Arya asked, oblivious to his problems.

"Because my family needs the money!" exclaimed Eragon. "Unlike some people, I actually have to work."

Eragon regretted saying that the moment the words left his mouth, but he could not take them back.

"So that's what this is all about," replied Arya coldly. Eragon sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" began Eragon, but he was immediately cut off by an angry Arya.

"I get it, Eragon," she said icily. "Save the apology for someone who actually gives a damn."

As soon as she said that, the bell rang, ending the period. Without any hesitation, Arya grabbed her backpack and hurried out of the room.

_Just my luck_, thought Eragon. _How in the world am I going to fix this?_

* * *

><p>Practice went horribly for Eragon. It seemed that his playing ability was affected by his relationship by Arya. Whenever something was wrong, his basketball skills suffered.<p>

Luckily for him, he was still taking it easy, due to his injured ankle, which was still slightly bruised. After practice, Oromis gathered the entire team to give them one final speech before the game the following night.

"Okay guys, our first away game is tomorrow night. Small school called Melian. Now, I don't want to jinx us, but this game should not be difficult to win. Which is why, in order to allow Eragon's ankle to heal, Eragon will be playing significantly less minutes. That means that the rest of you need to step up and take responsibility for this team. Am I understood?" Oromis concluded. The team nodded in agreement.

"Good. Now go home and get some rest."

* * *

><p>Eragon sat in his truck, trying to decide whether to press the call button. Finally, he mustered the courage and called.<p>

After a few rings, a voice answered the phone. "Hello?" said the voice, devoid of emotion.

"Arya?" asked Eragon uncertainly.

"What do you want?" replied Arya with annoyance creeping into her tone.

"I, uh, I need to see you. Talk about what happened today," he stammered.

Silence reigned for a few seconds before Arya replied, "I think you said enough this afternoon. I gotta go, Eragon. See you later."

"Wait!" exclaimed Eragon, but it was too late. She had already hung up. He let his head fall against the steering wheel, wondering how he had managed to screw things up do badly. And then he had an idea.

He slid the keys into the ignition and turned on the truck. Within a few minutes, he had arrived at the gated community where Arya lived. Fortunately, he still remembered the code for the gate, from when he had given Arya a ride.

Moments later, he pulled into her driveway. Taking a deep breath, he hopped out of the truck and walked up to the front door. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

Almost a minute later, the door swung open to reveal Firnen.

"Hey, Firnen. Is Arya home?" he asked simply.

"Yeah, I'll go get her," Firnen replied. "And Eragon, I'm glad you came. She's pretty upset."

While Firnen went to go get Arya, Eragon waited just inside the door, admiring how nice their home was. He was still inspecting the architecture when Arya gracefully sidled down the stairs.

"What are you doing here?" she asked bluntly. She wore form fitting jeans, as well as a black blouse. Her raven hair was curled and parted to the side, momentarily distracting Eragon.

"I came to apologize," Eragon replied, recovering from his daydream. Arya came and stood two feet in front of him with her arms folded across her chest. She said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"I was a complete jerk," he said. "I was a jerk to you when you were nothing but patient with me. There is no excuse for it, and I am sorry."

Arya nodded and said, "So, are you gonna tell me what's up now?"

Eragon signed heavily before continuing. "My uncle lost one of his jobs, and we can't pay the bills. So I've been working late nights to make ends meet," he explained.

Arya's icy countenance finally broke. "Eragon, I'm sorry. I had no idea!"

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "So, are you still mad at me?"

Arya shook her head. "How can I be mad at you after that?" she asked. She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug that Eragon gladly returned.

"Do you want some dinner? Me and Firnen just ordered Chinese," Arya asked.

"Sorry, I have to get to work," he explained, nodding with his head towards the door. "Maybe another time?"

"Yeah, of course," replied Arya. For the second time, she pulled Eragon into a hug. As Eragon held her, inhaling her pine cone scent, he decided to take a risk. He lightly placed a kiss on the top of her head, which garnered a smile from Arya.

"See ya tomorrow?" Eragon asked as they disengaged.

"Definitely," replied Arya with a smile as Eragon slipped out the door and to his waiting truck.

* * *

><p>The next day went perfectly for Eragon. Life was so much less stressful with things going well between him and Arya.<p>

As predicted, the game that night against Melian was a blowout. Eragon only played a few minutes, which helped his ankle considerably. He was optimistic that he would be up to full health by the game next week.

In his absence, Murtagh had stepped up, leading the team with 22 points. Spirits were high as the team rode back to West Ilirea following the game.

Eragon was exhausted as he stepped off of the bus, ready to go straight home and go to sleep. However, he was stopped by the anxious voice of Murtagh.

"Hey, guys? Can I have a word with everyone for a second?" Murtagh asked nervously.

Eragon immediately knew something was wrong. Despite him leading all scorers with 22 points, Murtagh had remained sullen and downcast all night.

As the team, including the coaches, crowded around him, Murtagh began to speak.

"I have some bad news," he began. "I don't know how to put this lightly, so I'm just gonna say it: I'm moving."

Immediately, all of the movements and sounds emanating from the crowd stopped, as all eyes froze on Murtagh.

He took a deep breath and continued. "My dad's company is transferring him out of West Ilirea. We are leaving within the next two weeks."

Eragon felt angry and betrayed. Clenching his fists, he spoke up. "I don't know yet. The company is still deciding where to send us. But as soon as they do, we have to go."

At the back of the crowd sat Oromis. To the bystander, he looked angry, but closer inspection revealed a look of disappointment on his face. He took control of the situation quickly.

"Well, that is surprising, to say the least," he began. "I think I speak for the entire team when I say that you will be sorely missed. But I wish you the best of luck."

Several players nodded their agreement. Soon, the crowd began to disperse, still shocked by the news. Eragon turned his back on the crowd and deliberately strode away from the scene, determined not to talk to Murtagh. He was afraid that his emotions might explode, and that would only make the situation worse. He needed to cool down before he spoke with Murtagh.

However, as he drove away, one thought kept sneaking its way into his mind: Why did it seem like Murtagh was hiding something?

* * *

><p><strong>Loved it? Hated it? Please let me know by REVIEWING!<strong>


	17. Quick Update

Yes, I know I haven't updated in forever. I took a little hiatus. I am working on the next chapter right now, and it should be up in a couple days (Tuesday hopefully). Thanks to all the readers who kept reviewing and telling me to hurry up (including the one guy who cussed me out. Thanks). Haha anyway, thanks for keeping up with the story, and I'll try to update quickly.

Also, I just read about this new image manager thing. If anyone would like to make a cover for this story, let me know and I'll tell you what I had in mind. I would really appreciate it!


	18. Chapter 17

Hello again, awesome readers. I know what you guys are thinking, I promised I would update Tuesday, and yet it's Wednesday. I know, I procrastinated again. I apologize. I stayed up most of the night to get this update out to you guys, so I hope you enjoy it! This one starts off with some angst, some Arygoniness, and then a ton of freakin drama. And please do not kill me when you finish the chapter. I promise, the storyline will improve!

On a side note, would anyone be interested in making a cover for this story? I am too lazy, and it would look horrible anyway. If anyone is interested, just send a PM.

* * *

><p>Chapter 17<p>

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

Eragon sighed before continuing. "I mean, what are we? Are we boyfriend-girlfriend, are we just really good friends, or what?"

Arya put down her pencil and looked him in the eyes. "Well, I thought I made it very clear that I am interested in being your girlfriend," she responded teasingly. "But since you haven't actually asked me, it's not official."

"Okay, then," replied Eragon. "Arya, will you be my girlfriend?"

Arya laughed a little before responding. "Of course."

"Good," Eragon grinned. "Because If you rejected me after that cheesy proposal..." he joked.

As they went back to work, Eragon kept glancing over at Arya, and found he could not wipe the smile off of his face.

* * *

><p>"Eragon, just tell me!" Arya exclaimed for the tenth time in as many minutes.<p>

Eragon merely chuckled in response and kept his eyes glued on the road in front of him. "Just wait. You'll see when we get there," he said calmly. The couple were seated in Eragon's old truck, driving down an old dirt road.

Finally, after another couple minutes, Eragon turned onto a smaller road, which he stayed on for another minute until they finally reached their destination.

Eragon parked the car and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Hopping out of the cab, he jogged over to the passenger's side and opened the door for Arya. Ignoring an angry glare from Arya, who didn't like people assisting her, he extended a hand to help her out. Surprisingly, she took his hand and stepped out of the truck.

"Where in the world are we?" inquired Arya, looking around at the landscape, confused.

Eragon grinned again. "Follow me," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her down a small dirt path. After about 50 feet, Eragon pushed aside a couple tree branches and motioned for Arya to step forward.

She let out a gasp as she stepped forward.

"You like it?" Eragon asked nervously. She nodded, speechless, gazing out at the scene. Water extended out before them, Leona Lake. On the horizon shone the setting sun, illuminating the surface of the water in brilliant hues of orange and pink.

"It's beautiful," Arya commented, turning to smile at Eragon. "How in the world did you find it?"

Eragon didn't respond for a second, still staring out at the sunset. Finally, he responded, not turning to look her in the eyes, however. "This is where I usually come when I need to be alone, when I need to think," he said softly.

Arya, realizing that he wasn't telling her everything, remained silent and waited for him to continue.

Sighing, he finally did continue. "A couple years ago, my aunt died of cancer," he began.

"I'm sorry," offered Arya, staring up at Eragon's eyes, which shone with grief and pain.

"Yeah, me too," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Anyway, after she died, my uncle was... different," Eragon said, looking for the right word. "He stopped laughing, stopped smiling. He always seemed to be angry, looking to pick a fight with anyone or anything."

"One day I came home from school and I found him sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for me. My report card had come in the mail," Eragon said, still avoiding Arya's brilliant green eyes.

"I got a B in reading class, the first time I hadn't received an A," he explained, chuckling morbidly. "He was livid. I don't remember what he said, all I remember is the yelling. When he finally finished, I had had enough. I grabbed my backpack and some food and walked out the door."

"I had nowhere to go, so I came down to the lake and just walked. After a couple hours, I came to this spot, when the sun was setting. I sat down right here and just tried to let go of all the hate and anger. And it worked."

"I went back home after that. My uncle had calmed down by then, he told me how sorry he was. Things went back to normal eventually, but I never forgot about this place," finished Eragon. He finally tore his gaze from the water and looked at Arya.

"Come here," she said, wrapping her arms around him. She was wearing one of his sweatshirts, which was a little baggy on her, but she didn't care.

After a couple moments, Eragon pulled away. "Sorry for dumping all this on you," he said. "I didn't bring you here to unload all of my baggage on you."

"Eragon, you can tell me anything," Arya immediately replied. "Don't feel bad, that's what I'm here for."

Eragon smiled slightly and nodded sharply. "I got you something," he said suddenly, stuffing his hand into his pocket. "I know it's not a special occasion or anything, I just wanted you to have it," he explained.

He pulled his hand out of his pocket and opened his fist. In it lay a sparkling silver bracelet. Arya gasped, "it's beautiful!" she said, holding out her wrist for him to put it on.

After a minute, she asked, "How did you afford this?"

Eragon shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He looked up from putting it on his wrist and gave her a small smile. "Don't worry about it."

Arya smiled softly and brought her hands up to his face, her fingers rubbing against the rough stubble there. Slowly, the two inched their faces together, until Arya became impatient and quickly closed the gap between them, locking his lips to his.

After several seconds, the two separated, grins on both their faces. Eragon pulled her against his chest, and they remained in that position, watching the sunset on the horizon.

* * *

><p>Eragon sighed as he glanced down at his watch. One more hour until his shift was over. It was Saturday night, and all he wanted to do was sleep.<p>

He stood at the cash register, bored out of his mind due to the lack of customers.

Suddenly, he heard giggling coming from one of the aisles. Moments later, three girls emerged from the aisle.

_Oh great_, groaned Eragon as he saw who it was: Trianna and two of her friends.

"Eragon!" she exclaimed loudly. Eragon silently cringed and put on a fake smile.

"Hey guys, what can I help you with?" he said politely.

"I can't believe you work and play basketball. You are soooo amazing!" crooned one of the friends.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," replied Eragon. "Is this all?" he asked, gesturing to the pile of food they were buying.

"Yep, that's it!" said the other friend enthusiastically. She handed him a

stack of bills. "Keep the change," she said flirtatiously.

"I'm surprised that you aren't at the party!" Trianna exclaimed as Eragon was bagging their stuff.

Eragon gave her a confused state. "What party are you talking about?" he inquired.

"Arya didn't tell you?" Trianna said innocently. "Her mom is holding a big party downtown to celebrate new expansion of her business!"

"No, she definitely did not tell me," Eragon said, feeling both angry and hurt at the same time.

"Well, she must have forgotten to bring it up," excused Trianna in her fake, innocent voice.

"Yeah, I guess so," mumbled Eragon, who was doing everything he could to keep his rising anger in check.

"See you around!" said Trianna and her friends sweetly, waving as the walked away. Eragon turned away after giving a halfhearted wave, barely missing the evil smile that crept onto Trianna's face.

Finally, Eragon's shift ended. He walked slowly into the parking lot towards the truck. When he got into the truck, he sat there for a minute, overwhelmed by the new information he had received.

As he was sitting there, he got a call from Roran. Sighing, he flipped open the phone and answered.

"What do you want?" Eragon asked bluntly.

"Someone's grumpy tonight," mumbled Roran. "Anyway, Katrina and I were wondering if you could pick up a movie for us from Blockbuster?"

"Ror, the nearest Blockbuster is downtown!" he exclaimed. As soon as he said that, he heard Trianna's voice in his head, saying that the party was downtown.

"Never mind. I'll do it. What movie?"

...

Fifteen minutes later, Eragon's truck pulled into the parking space in front of Blockbuster. He jogged lightly into the store, eager to get out of the cold night.

He quickly found the movie he was looking for and checked it out. He walked briskly outside and got into the truck.

He was just about to start the truck when he saw two figures walking down the sidewalk across the street. Interestingly, he had heard music coming from the luxury hotel only a hundred feet down the road when he had passed it.

Intrigued, he leaned forward and peered out the windshield for a better view. What he saw made his blood boil.

The figure on the right was Arya. She was wearing a form fitting, strapless black dress that made her look beautiful. However, she was wearing a man's suit jacket over the dress in an attempt to ward off the cold.

The man next to her was missing his jacket, and as he watched, put his arm around Arya. As Eragon squinted, he couldn't believe his eyes. Spiky, blonde hair. It was Vanir.

Shock quickly took hold of Eragon. He could only watch the horrible scene in front of him unfold. Vanir led Arya to a sparkling new Mercedes. He opened the passenger's door for her, and once she was seated, closed the door and ran around to the driver's side.

Seconds later, the engine roared to life, and the car disappeared down the street. Only then did Eragon react to what he had just seen.

Angrily, he struck the top of the steering wheel in front of him. Then again, and again. Over and over he slammed the wheel. After a minute, he stopped and leaned his head against the wheel, angrily wiping tears out of his eyes with the back of his hand.


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait again. I just love to procrastinate! Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews and the support. Special thanks to: Brightwatcher, Valkyrie's Vengence, BananaMan28, Ajihad Swordscratcher (glad to see you back), ginger28497, lmaskier, VoXR, noob101, Separate Entity, Mattchew Inheritance, Lost Grey Soul, DeMoNzMaGiC, Golden Shade, Elemental Dragon Slayer, AwesomeDragonGirl, xxPercyRoxxx, Korungr, and many more. **

**Just a warning in advance: this is about to get angsty. I know, I hate it too. But it has to happen. This chapter is also a tad short for my liking. The good news is, I have already started on the next chapter, which should be up either tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. So you guys will not have to wait long for a good ending to this drama. **

**And no, unfortunately Vanir does not get his ass kicked in this chapter. But next chapter, definitely :)**

**Chapter 18**

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

_Arya smiled softly and brought her hands up to his face, her fingers rubbing against the rough stubble there. Slowly, the two inched their faces together, until Arya became impatient and quickly closed the gap between them, locking his lips to his._

...

_The figure on the right was Arya. She was wearing a form fitting, strapless black dress that made her look beautiful. However, she was wearing a man's suit jacket over the dress in an attempt to ward off the cold._

_The man next to her was missing his jacket, and as he watched, put his arm around Arya. As Eragon squinted, he couldn't believe his eyes. Spiky, blonde hair. It was Vanir._

* * *

><p>Sunlight began to seep through the blinds in Arya's bedroom, illuminating the room in an amber glow. After a few minutes, the light shone onto her face, waking her from her deep sleep. Stirring, she pulled the covers tighter around her, in a futile attempt to remain in her dreams.<p>

After a few minutes, she gave up. She sat up in her expensive bed for a moment, still not fully awake. Around her lay one of Eragon's sweatshirts, which she had worn to bed the previous night.

Arya instinctively reached over to her bedside table for her phone. She was surprised as she turned it on to find no new messages. _That's strange_, she thought to herself. Eragon usually sent her messages in the morning, saying things like "Good morning beautiful!" But today, for some reason, he hadn't.

_He must be at work_, she concluded, before getting out of bed and heading downstairs. As she sat down for breakfast, she whipped out her phone and texted Eragon. "No good morning text today?" she wrote quickly. With the text sent, she put the issue out of her mind and focused on her stomach instead.

…

Two hours later, however, she had still not received a reply, and she had begun to get anxious. She sent him another text, asking what he was doing today, but still her phone remained silent.

Five minutes later, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Quick as a cobra, she grabbed her phone and opened the message. She was disappointed, however, when she saw who it was from: Trianna.

"Guess who I saw last night?" read the message. Anger and worry began to boil in her stomach as she replied.

"Eragon?"

"Yep! He was working late," Trianna replied promptly. Arya was typing her response when another message from Trianna arrived.

"Why didn't you tell him about your moms party?"

Arya remained completely still for a moment, shocked by what she was reading. The previous night, her mom had thrown a huge party to celebrate the expansion of her business, Du Weldenvarden Clothing. It was a very private event, with lots of rich and important people there.

The party had been planned for weeks, well before she and Eragon had become a couple. As a result, Vanir had asked to go with her, his dad being an executive on the company's board of directors. On top of that, she knew that Eragon would have been extremely uncomfortable there. She knew she shouldn't have kept it a secret from him, but as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was afraid of what everyone would think of Eragon.

After her momentary shock, she recovered and responded to Trianna's text.

"You told him?"

Moments later, Trianna's text arrived. "yeah, I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret. sorry!"

At this point, Arya was fuming. Once again, Trianna was meddling in her relationship, and this time, could have actually done damage.

Picking up her phone, she hurriedly texted Eragon: "hey, we need to talk. can you please call me as soon as you get this?"

Thirty minutes later, he still had not responded, and Arya was beginning to seriously worry. Only Eragon could make me this anxious, she admitted to herself. For the millionth time, she took out her cell and dialed Eragon's number. She was just about to hang up after 5 rings when he finally picked up.

"What do you want, Arya? Eragon said coldly on the other line.

Arya knew immediately that something was wrong. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm sure about that," the same cold voice responded.

Anger exploded within Arya. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I saw you and Vanir last night," said Eragon, venom dripping from his voice.

Arya was speechless. "Eragon, I can exp-" she started, but was cut off by Eragon.

"Listen, I gotta run. You can save the crap for someone else." With that, the line went dead. Arya stared at the phone in her hand, which she was squeezing so hard, she was afraid it would snap in two.

As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that she deserved everything that was happening to her. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, when she was startled by her mother behind her.

"What's wrong, Arya?" Islanzadi said with care in her voice.

"Nothing, Mother," Arya responded coldly. There was no way she was going to open up to her mother, of all people, about what she was feeling inside. Not after what Islanzadi had done.

Unwilling to carry on the conversation further, she jumped up from the couch, grabbed the keys to her BMW, and headed towards the garage.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, she was standing in front of the door of Eragon's house. Gathering her courage, she knocked on the door three times.<p>

She was just about to leave after waiting for a couple minutes when the door finally opened. Inside the doorway stood Garrow.

"Hello, Mr. Garrowsson, is Eragon home?" Arya said softly.

Garrow studied her for a moment before responding. "You must be Arya," he muttered absently. "No, he is not home. He took the truck and left an hour ago. Where, I have no idea," he explained.

Arya thought for a moment before she replied. "I think I know where he went. Thank you for your help."

"You are most welcome," said Garrow graciously before closing the door. Arya turned around and got back into her car. She pulled out of the driveway and began the drive towards Leona Lake.

* * *

><p>Eragon stood at the edge of the water, skipping stones across its surface.<p>

"I knew you'd be here," came a voice from behind him. Startled, he whipped around, to find Arya leaning against a tree, watching him.

"Not now, Arya," was all he said before turning back to continue skipping stones.

Annoyed, Arya walked directly in front of him, demanding his attention. She placed one hand on his stomach, the other on his chest. She felt him tense underneath her touch, and she cringed inwardly. She stared at him with her emerald orbs, waiting for him to look her in the eyes.

Finally, he returned her gaze, allowing her to see all of the pain and anger in his eyes. "Just let me explain," she begged.

"You don't need to explain anything to me," Eragon said. "We come from two completely different worlds. It never would have worked out anyway."

"That's not true!" she protested.

"Then why didn't you tell me about the party? Was it because I live in the Carvahall neighborhood? Because I have to work to actually put food on the table?"

Arya stepped back and shook her head. "I'm sorry for not telling you about the party, okay? It was a mistake, and I regret it!"

"This whole thing was a mistake," shot back Eragon, turning away.

"Don't you say that!" said Arya angrily, struggling to keep Eragon from noticing the years that were threatening to escape from her eyes.

"I'm just Faolin's replacement, aren't I? You were missing him, and I was the only one around to fill that hole," Eragon said coldly.

"Don't you dare bring him into this! He has nothing to do with us!" Arya yelled.

Eragon did not respond, but just continued skipping stones again.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Eragon, but that is a lie," Arya said with all the calmness she could muster. "Never for a second would I ever compare you to him!"

Eragon stopped throwing, but continued to stare out at the water, away from Arya's piercing gaze.

"When you finally realize that, you know where to find me," Arya said softly, before turning and slipping back into the foliage. Only then did Eragon turn around, watching her leave.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please leave me a review, and I promise to have the next chapter up soon!<strong>


	20. Chapter 19

I'm back! Two months later, but I am back nonetheless! Seriously though, I gotta apologize for the procrastination and the long wait for the new chapter. I am just gonna stop promising update times, because I know that I won't make them anyway. I will definitely try to update a lot faster for this next chapter, as I know many of you faithful readers were getting pretty annoyed with me. Once again, I'm sorry, and hopefully this chapter makes up for the long wait! And I apologize in advance for the cliffhanger, I'm setting up a plot line for the next couple chapters... Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Previously...<em>

The figure on the right was Arya. She was wearing a form fitting, strapless black dress that made her look beautiful. However, she was wearing a man's suit jacket over the dress in an attempt to ward off the cold.

The man next to her was missing his jacket, and as he watched, put his arm around Arya. As Eragon squinted, he couldn't believe his eyes. Spiky, blonde hair. It was Vanir.

...

Arya stepped back and shook her head. "I'm sorry for not telling you about the party, okay? It was a mistake, and I regret it!"

"This whole thing was a mistake," shot back Eragon, turning away.

"Don't you say that!" said Arya angrily, struggling to keep Eragon from noticing the years that were threatening to escape from her eyes.

"I'm just Faolin's replacement, aren't I? You were missing him, and I was the only one around to fill that hole," Eragon said coldly.

* * *

><p>He regretted what he had said as soon as he watched Arya's car speed away, leaving him with his thoughts. He had been harsh, that was true. However, she was the one keeping secrets from him.<p>

Eragon continued skipping stones across the surface of Leona Lake for a few seconds, before his anger got the best of him and he began throwing rocks as hard as he could. A minute later, his anger faded, and he collapsed onto the ground, leaning against a tree and staring out across the water.

As much as he hated to admit it, he had been a little unreasonable with her. She had come here to apologize to him, and he had shot her down. Being honest with himself, Eragon knew without a doubt that she was the best thing in his life. And he might have just ruined that forever.

"Maybe not," he muttered to himself. Tossing one more stone across the surface of the water, he turned and trudged towards his car, knowing exactly where to find her.

Ten minutes later, he was in a familiar location: his truck was parked out in front of Arya's house.

_I bet she's regretting giving me that code to the gate now_, he thought to himself. He jumped out of the truck and slowly made his way up the front steps. Lights were visible on the second story, making it likely that Arya was here.

Finally, he arrived at the ornate front door, covered in ornate cast iron carvings. Taking a deep breath and gathering his courage, he raised his arm and rang the doorbell.

He stepped back and waited for several seconds. Moments later, the sound of muffled footsteps could be heard, as the door unlocked and began to creep open. Eragon expected to see Firnen, just like last time. However, he was surprised to see an older version of Arya standing at the door.

Emerald eyes just like Arya's pierced him, but he refused to look away.

"You're Eragon, am I right?" asked the woman.

Eragon nodded softly. "Yes, I am. You must be Mrs. Drottning. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he said as courteously as he could.

"Well, it looks like you do have some manners," Arya's mom quipped in response.

Eragon had no idea how to respond to that remark. Instead, he got straight to the point: "Is Arya home by any chance?"

Islanzadi smiled slightly. She turned her head towards the interior of the house, and more specifically, towards the top of a flight of stairs. Turning back, she responded.

"I'm sorry, she's not home at the moment. I will tell her you stopped by," Islanzadi said cryptically. However, as she was saying this, she sneakily pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and slipped it towards Eragon, who questioningly took it.

"Goodbye, Eragon," Islanzadi said curtly as she then closed the door on him.

Confused beyond belief, Eragon slowly turned and walked back to his truck. When he got there, he unfolded the piece of paper in his hand. As he squinted in the dark, he could make out several words scribbled in cursive:

"Go around back. Arya's room is on the second story, farthest window on the right. Hope you can climb."

As soon as he read those words, he let out a chuckle of disbelief. _Why would Arya's mom want to help me?_ Eragon thought to himself, bewildered. Nevertheless, he decided to follow the writing on the paper. Glancing at the house, he noticed a stone path leading off to the right side of the house. Shaking his head in disbelief once again, he set off down the path.

Moments later, he arrived in the backyard, behind the house. Taking a look up, he sighed in amazement. The large, Victorian style residence was spotted with balconies on the backside. Remembering the note, he looked towards the right side. Sure enough, on the end there was a window illuminated by soft yellow light.

Jogging over to just beneath the window and balcony, he looked up, trying to figure out how the heck to climb up there...

* * *

><p><em>Why is my life so complicated?<em> Arya thought to herself. She lay on her bed, snuggled into her covers. She was also snuggled in Eragon's sweatshirt. Even when she was angry with him, she still wanted to feel his presence.

That thought completely contradicted what she had just done, however. Eragon had just come to the door. Hearing his voice, she crept to the top of the stairs, just out of view from Eragon's position. Arya heard Eragon ask her mother if she was at home; her mother looked towards her for an answer.

For some reason, she was too anxious to face him after the confrontation they had just had. And so, she had slowly shaken her head, indicating that she wasn't in the mood to speak with him.

And now, here she was lying in bed, replaying the moment in her mind, second-guessing her decision. Suddenly, she was rudely interrupted from her thoughts by a rapping on her balcony door.

Her head immediately snapped to the left, panic and adrenaline beginning to pump through her veins. However, she soon calmed down when she saw who stood there: Eragon.

He wore jeans and a plain grey T-shirt, his hands stuffed into his pockets with only his thumbs on top of the pocket.

Slowly, Arya got out of her bed and opened the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked bluntly, unwilling to let him off the hook.

Eragon looked down at the floor, as of ashamed. "I'm here to apologize for what I did to you," he said softly. "And, because you told your mom not to let me in at the front door," he continued, smiling slightly.

His determination to fix things was slowly melting her anger and stubbornness. Against her better judgment, she opened the door wider and walked back into her room, taking a seat on her bed. Taking the hint, Eragon stepped into the bedroom and shut the balcony door behind him.

Arya, however, made no move to speak. So instead, Eragon sat next to her on the bed and began to speak.

"I'm sorry."

That was all he said. For ten seconds, silence permeated the room, as neither person said anything. Finally, Arya turned to him, eyebrows raised: "That's it?" she asked.

Eragon smiled softly and shook his head. "Of course not."

Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to say what he had been preparing in his mind. "I blew this whole thing out of proportion. When I saw you and Vanir, I just..." He stopped, unsure of what to say. Arya'a emerald eyes locked onto his, filled with concern.

Eragon broke the eye contact and returned his gaze to the floor. "The women in my life never seem to stick around long. My mom, my aunt. So when I saw you two, I was so scared and angry that I was gonna lose you, just like everyone else."

At this point, he stood up from the bed and took a few steps forward. "But I guess that it was all my fault after all. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I pushed you away. I'm sorry," he concluded bitterly, emotion thick in his voice.

He turned to look at Arya, who was still sitting on her bed. Surprise flitted over him as he glimpsed a tear roll swiftly down her cheek. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears. Without any more hesitation, she stood up and embraced him, wrapping her arms around his torso as tightly as possible and burying her face into her chest.

_What the hell is happening to me?_ she thought to herself as tears escaped from her eyes, but that thought was soon whisked away by the sensation of Eragon's arms encircling her and pulling her tighter.

The pair remained that way for nearly a minute, merely reveling in the feeling of the other. Finally, Arya pulled away, looking into Eragon's eyes.

"It was not all your fault," she whispered. "So are you gonna let me explain now?"

Eragon nodded, motioning for her to continue.

"My mom owns a clothing and textile business," she began. "Recently, her business merged with another. Vanir's dad is an executive at this company."

"This party had been planned for months to celebrate the merger. And so, Vanir asked me before school even began. It was just business, nothing beyond that. I know I should have told you. I thought it would be easier to just not tell you. I was completely wrong, and I am so sorry for that."

"I guess we were both to blame," replied Eragon softly. "But I don't care. All that matters is that you're here now."

Arya smiled widely and fell into Eragon's arms again. As she snuggled her head underneath his chin, she felt him gently kiss the top of her head. She smiled into his shirt at this sensation.

Suddenly, the moment was interrupted as she felt Eragon's phone vibrating in his pocket. Irritated, he let out a grumble and pulled out his phone.

"Stupid Roran," he muttered as he pressed ignore and tuned his attention back to Arya. "Now, where were we?" he asked her.

"Well, I was just about to do this..." hinted Arya as she leaned up and kissed him softly. Eragon, pleasantly surprised, brought his hands up and gently held her face as the kiss deepened.

Once again, however, the moment was ruined by Eragon's phone. With an angry grumble, Eragon pulled away and said, "I'm going to kill him," as he pulled out his phone and answered the call.

"What do you want, Ror," he said exasperatingly. In a moment, all of the annoyance and anger in his face melted into a look of concern.

"What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke?" he said into the phone. Arya could sense the strain and tension in his tone.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can," he said suddenly and hung up. He turned to Arya and explained, "I gotta go. Something's happened."

She could see the panic and fear in his eyes, the fear and panic that he was trying to suppress. "What happened?" Arya asked anxiously. He refused to answer, but instead moved towards the door.

Before he could open it, she sidled in front of him, placing her hands on his chest and stopping him in his tracks. "What happened?!" she pleaded with him, trying to get an answer.

Her fears were confirmed when Eragon finally replied: "There's been an accident…"

* * *

><p>Thanks again for reading! Please review with any comments or suggestions you may have! Thanks for the support!<p> 


	21. Chapter 20

**Hello again, faithful readers! Thank you to everyone for sticking with the story. Yes, I know, I am the worst procrastinator in the world. I think we established this like 15 chapters ago. I will try to start updating much faster, but I'm not making any promises...**

**A lot of you predicted part of this chapter. Props to you all. I hope that the end of this chapter isn't too big of a cliffhanger! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 20<p>

* * *

><p><em>Previously...<em>

_And now, here she was laying in bed, replaying the moment in her mind, second guessing her decision. Suddenly, she was rudely interrupted from her thoughts by a rapping on her balcony door._

_Her head immediately snapped to the left, panic and adrenaline beginning to pump through her veins. However, she soon calmed down when she saw who stood there: Eragon._

_"I blew this whole thing out of proportion. When I saw you and Vanir, I just..." Eragon stopped, unsure of what to say. Arya'a emerald eyes locked onto his, filled with concern._

_..._

_"Well, I was just about to do this..." hinted Arya as she leaned up and kissed him softly. Eragon, pleasantly surprised, brought his hands up and gently held her face as the kiss deepened._

_Once again, however, the moment was ruined by Eragon's phone. With an angry grumble, Eragon pulled away and said, "I'm going to kill him," as he pulled out his phone and answered the call from Roran._

_"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can," he said suddenly and hung up. He turned to Arya and explained, "I gotta go. Something's happened."_

* * *

><p>"Eragon, please, let me in. Just tell me what happened!" pleaded Arya, as she placed herself between Eragon and the door. She could see the worry and anxiety shining through his chocolate brown eyes, and the same emotions were starting to build within herself as she watched his reaction.<p>

Eragon sighed and bit his lower lip before responding. "There's been an accident. My uncle is in the hospital," he admitted quietly.

"Is he okay?" she asked, even though she knew he didn't know.

"I have no idea, but I need to get to the hospital right away. From the tone of Roran's voice, it didn't sound too good."

"Let me come with you. I don't want you to be alone," Arya asked. To her surprise, Eragon didn't put up a fight at all. Instead, he nodded and wrapped his hand into hers.

"Okay, but I need to go NOW," he emphasized, tugging her slender frame towards the door.

Without another moment's hesitation, the pair made their way down the hallway and descended the spiral staircase. On their way down, they spotted Islanzadi, who was sporting a small smirk.

"And where do you two think you're going?" she demanded, feigning an angry tone.

"Eragon's uncle was just admitted to the hospital, we are going to see him," Arya quickly responded, in no mood for her mother's games.

Her mother's facade quickly gave way to a concerned countenance. "I'm so sorry, is he alright?" she inquired.

"I have no clue, I just got the call a few minutes ago," Eragon replied.

"Well, I don't want to hold you two up. Arya, call me with any news," she instructed, before motioning to the door.

"Thank you," said Eragon curtly before hustling out the door with Arya towards his truck. Quickly, he opened the passenger's door for her, ignoring her objections, before jogging to the driver's side and starting the engine. With a squeal, the truck sped down the street and towards the hospital.

As they drove, Arya kept her eyes glued on Eragon, trying to discern his emotions. She could see he was wrestling with something that he wasn't telling her. Instead of pressing the matter, she was content to wait for him to tell her when he was ready.

She grabbed his hand that was on the gear shift and held it, rubbing small circles on the top of it with her fingers. Ten minutes later, they arrived at the entrance to the emergency room. Hand in hand, they ran inside, only to find Roran sitting in the waiting room, head in his hands.

"Roran, what happened?" Eragon exclaimed upon seeing his cousin in such a state. Roran looked up upon hearing his name, and a wave of relief crossed his face when he saw Eragon. Without saying a word, he walked over and embraced him in a tight hug.

After a few moments, they separated, and once again, Eragon looked Roran dead in the eyes and asked, "What happened?"

"There was an accident at the factory. Dad was taking the night shift. All I know is there was some kind of explosion. The doctors say he's burned pretty bad, he's still in surgery," Roran explained.

A wave of worry and stress immediately hit Eragon with the force of a tsunami. He staggered backwards, and would have fallen if not for Arya's arms, which wrapped around him and held him in place.

"I'm so sorry," consoled Arya. "Do you know when he will be out of surgery?"

Roran looked over at Arya, as if finally realizing that his cousin had not come alone. "He won't be out for another couple hours at least. Until then, we just have to sit here and wait."

Eragon looked over at Arya. "Hey, you don't need to stay here all night. I'll be alright."

Arya just gave Eragon a stern look, her eyebrows raised. "I'm not going anywhere," she said stubbornly. "And don't try to lie to me again," she warned.

With that, she grabbed his hand and led him to the bench where Roran had just sat down. As soon as they were seated, she scooted closer to him and snuggled into him, cuddling her head underneath his chin. Eragon wrapped an arm around her torso, pulling her closer to him.

The pair sat that way for nearly an hour, and Arya's eyes began to droop from the weight of exhaustion. The steady breathing of Eragon aided, nearly lulling her to sleep. However, she bolted wide awake as she came to a realization: Eragon was still wide awake. She could not just let him endure this alone.

With an effort, she pulled herself out of Eragon's strong arms in order to look up at his face. As he turned his gaze upon her, she in turn inspected him. Beyond the worry and anxiety over his uncle, there lay some other emotion, which she could not discern.

As she looked over at Roran, she could see the same emotion. He was leaning forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. His head hung low, bowed by that unknown emotion.

Intrigued, yet worried, Arya turned back to Eragon. "What's wrong?" she demanded.

Eragon just looked at her in confusion. "You mean besides the fact that my uncle is in surgery right now?" he replied.

"Yes! There's something you're not telling me," she implied.

"Tell her," Roran interrupted from beside Eragon, causing Eragon to grind his teeth in frustration. In response, he only nodded sharply, but kept his eyes focused on the ground, safe from the prying eyes of Arya.

"The last time we were in this hospital was the night my aunt died," he admitted, still avoiding eye contact.

"Hey," Arya murmured, bringing a hand to his cheek and turning his face towards her own. "This is not like last time," she insisted.

Eragon slowly nodded. "I know. It's just... the memories are hard to shake."

Arya did not know how to respond. Instead, she just snuggled back underneath his chin, still holding his hand. "I'm sorry for bringing it up," she finally said.

"Don't worry about it," whispered Eragon into her ear, making her hair stand on end. With that, they lapsed back into silence, awaiting any news from the doctors.

Information was not long in coming. Ten minutes later, a doctor strode into the waiting room, causing the three teens to bolt upright in their chairs.

"Excuse me, are you Roran and Eragon Garrowson?" the doctor inquired.

"Yessir," responded Roran immediately. "Is my dad gonna be alright?"

The doctor sighed before speaking, which was not a good sign. "We were able to perform some skin grafts in surgery, and stop the bleeding, but we won't know how well he's doing until he wakes up."

"When will that be?" pestered Eragon immediately.

"That is up to your uncle," the doctor replied patiently. "If you will follow me, I can take you to his room."

Nodding in acceptance, the trio walked behind the doctor as he pushed through a pair of swinging doors, which led to an empty hallway. The only audible sound was the squeaking of their shoes on the polished floor. On both sides of the hallway were patients' rooms; however, all were closed.

"Your uncle will need to stay in the ICU until we determine that his condition has improved enough to move him to another ward," the doctor explained as they walked. Finally, the doctor stopped in front of a door.

"This is his room. I'll let you be alone with him," he said, before turning and walking back down the hallway they had just came from.

Slowly, Roran pushed open the door and stepped inside, followed by Eragon and Arya. The room was dark and completely devoid of sound, except for the incessant beeping of the heart rate monitor.

Immediately, the two cousins strode to the bedside, taking in the sight of their broken uncle, unconscious, laying on the bed. Bandages covered his hands and arms, and also parts of his face.

"I'm sorry, Uncle," muttered Eragon softly, as he bowed his head. A new wave of stress and worry washed over him as he saw his uncle's body. How would they have enough money to pay the bills with him hurt so badly? From the looks of things, Garrow would be confined to a bed for the foreseeable future.

Eragon decided not to voice his worries and opinions. Instead, he elected to go sit on the bench against the wall. Not surprisingly, Arya was at his side, cuddling into him. Roran, however, remained standing for several minutes, refusing to leave his dad's side.

As hard as he tried, Eragon was feeling exhausted. The heart rate monitor kept beeping, keeping a steady rhythm. Pretty soon, his eyes had fallen shut, and he drifted away into a dream...

* * *

><p><em>Beep. Beep. Beep. <em>

_Once again, Eragon heard the noisy machine keeping track of heart beats. However, the sound was very slow in repeating, much slower than an average person. _

_As Eragon looked around, he saw his uncle and Roran standing next to a hospital bed. Standing up, Eragon walked over and joined them. As he approached, he saw who was laying on the bed: his aunt. _

_"Don't worry about me," said Marian in a voice barely above a whisper. "I'll be fine."_

_"You're not going anywhere, Mom," insisted Roran, although his voice was choked with emotion. "You're gonna keep fighting!"_

_"Of course I will, Ror," she wheezed. "But God might have other plans for me." Suddenly, a violent coughing fit wracked her frail body. _

_Eragon just stood there, frozen to his spot and unable to speak. He watched helplessly as Marian whispered a few more words, struggling to get them out: "I love you guys."_

_With that, she closed her eyes, spent from the exertion of speaking. Her ragged breaths began to slow down, until finally, they stopped altogether. Eragon watched in horror as the last breaths left his aunt's body. The heart rate monitored stopped beeping, replaced with a steady tone, indicating that her heart had stopped beating. _

_"Mom, wake up!" shouted Roran upon hearing the flatline. "Wake up!"_

_For some reason, Eragon knew that she wasn't coming back, no matter how much Roran yelled. Instead, he went and sat down in a chair, holding his head in his hands. Quietly, he began to cry, as he fully came to grips with the fact that his aunt was gone..._

* * *

><p>Eragon's eyes snapped open. <em>It was just a dream<em>, he thought to himself, as he tried to shake the emptiness he now felt. A single tear rolled down his cheek, because of the dream he had just seen. Angrily he wiped it away.

It had not been just a dream, however. It was a memory. And he was terrified that the same thing could happen to his uncle, and he would be helpless to stop it.

As Eragon looked around, he found Arya asleep against him, and glimpsed Roran asleep in another chair. He sighed; he did not want to go back to sleep for fear of another nightmare. So, he elected to hold Arya tighter, and to wait and see what the morning would have in store for them...

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks so much for reading! Please review, I would love to hear your suggestions and comments.<strong>


	22. Chapter 21: Life and Death

Chapter 21: Life and Death

* * *

><p>Previously...<p>

_"There was an accident at the factory. Dad was taking the night shift. All I know is there was some kind of explosion. The doctors say he's burned pretty bad, he's still in surgery," Roran explained._

_..._

_"The last time we were in this hospital was the night my aunt died," he admitted, still avoiding eye contact._

_..._

_As Eragon looked around, he found Arya asleep against him, and glimpsed Roran asleep in another chair. He sighed; he did not want to go back to sleep for fear of another nightmare. So, he elected to hold Arya tighter, and to wait and see what the morning would have in store for them..._

* * *

><p>The first rays of sunlight began to stream through the blinds. Squinting, Eragon turned his head towards the window, just in time to catch a glimpse of the sun rising on the horizon. Turning his attention back to the room, he glanced at each of the occupants. Arya still lay snuggled into his chest, fast asleep. A few feet away, Roran was also asleep, leaning back in his chair.<p>

Finally, in the center of the room, lay Uncle Garrow. He had not moved a muscle all night. The only clue that he was still alive was the slight rise of his chest, every time he took a pained, ragged breath.

Worry and stress still wore heavily on Eragon's shoulders. All night, he had stayed awake, praying that his uncle would recover, that everything would go back to normal. No matter how much he pleaded, however, Garrow's condition remained unchanged...

* * *

><p>Later that night, there still had been no change in Garrow's condition. If anything, he had gotten worse. He still lay in a coma, unresponsive to everything around him. The doctors had begun to worry that he had not woken up yet.<p>

Eragon had insisted that Arya head home earlier in the afternoon. He had convinced her by saying that Garrow could stay in a coma indefinitely, and that he really needed to be alone to process this latest tragedy. And so, with a small kiss, Arya had left the hospital, but only after eliciting a promise from Eragon to call if anything changed.

Finally, at 2 a.m., nearly 30 hours after Garrow had first been admitted to the hospital, his condition began to change. Roran and Eragon, who had been dozing off by Garrow's bedside, were sharply awoken by the sound of murmuring. Immediately, they sat up to find Garrow, still unconscious, mumbling incoherently.

"Dad, wake up!" begged Roran, gripping his father's hands hopefully. "Come on Dad!"

Despite Roran's determination, Garrow refused to wake. Dismayed, Eragon stood by Roran's side, watching and praying. However, after several minutes, Garrow's mumbling finally gave way to a single word.

"Brom," Garrow muttered softly. Unsure of what they had heard, the two cousins looked at each other.

"What did he just say?" exclaimed Eragon. "It sounded like he said-"

Eragon was suddenly interrupted by Garrow. "Brom!" he muttered again, loudly enough that the cousins understood exactly what had been said.

"What are you talking about, Uncle?" asked Eragon, desperate for information about his late father. "What about my dad?"

Unfortunately, that was the last word Garrow would ever say. He returned to his vegetative state, dashing the hopes of Roran and Eragon. After a couple more minutes, they sat back down, falling back into an uneasy sleep.

Three hours later, they were once again awoken from their slumber. Instead of mumbling, however, the sound of a steady flatline tone invaded their dreams. Shocked into consciousness, Eragon snapped his eyes open to see the heart rate monitor displaying Garrow's nonexistent heart rate.

"No!" Eragon yelled, running out into the hall. "Somebody help! He's not breathing!"

Within seconds, nurses and doctors came flooding into the room. Eragon stood at the back of the room, unable to move a muscle as he watched the medical team work desperately on his father, attempting to elicit a heart beat. Time seemed to slow down as terror and fear overcame his senses, making him feel like he was in the middle of a nightmare.

Despite the best efforts of the doctors, the flatline tone of the monitor continued. Tears had begun to form in Eragon's eyes when he finally heard a doctor say, "Call it. Time of death, 5:19 a.m."

"No." Eragon shook his head in disbelief. This wasn't real. In a few moments he would wake up from the nightmare to find his uncle alive and awake.

Suddenly, the room felt way too small, and Eragon found himself struggling for breath. Impulsively, he staggered out of the room, in a trance, until he found himself outside, in the entrance to the hospital. Exhausted, he sat down against the wall, holding his head in his hands, trying to suppress the sobs that threatened to overcome him...

* * *

><p><em>Uncle Garrow is dead.<em> This one, single thought consumed Eragon's mind. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he couldn't get the thought out of his head. The past few hours had been a blur. Doctors and social workers had talked to him, tried to discuss what was happening, but he was in a daze.

Like a zombie, Eragon wandered out to his truck in the parking lot. Ten minutes later, he found himself in front of the gates to Du Weldenvarden, unsure of how he got there. Nonetheless, he punched in the code and crept forward until he reached Arya's house. Slowly, he walked up to the front door and knocked three times.

A few moments later, the door swung open to reveal Arya's mother, Islanzadi. "Eragon! How are you doing?" she asked immediately.

"I, uh, I'm not really sure," replied Eragon with a glazed look in his eyes.

Seeing that something was wrong with Eragon's behavior, Islanzadi quickly responded, "I'll go get Arya for you. Why don't you come inside."

With that, she went upstairs to retrieve Arya, while Eragon stood just inside the doorway. After a minute had passed, Arya emerged at the top of the stairs.

"Eragon," she sighed in relief as she descended the stairs. "How is he?"

Eragon did not reply. Instead, she saw Eragon's eyes filled with pain and confusion, and she knew that something was wrong.

Finally, Eragon began to speak. "He's... He's..." But he could not bring himself to say the words. If he said the words, that Garrow was dead, then it would mean that all of this was real. Instead, he shook his head, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall once again.

Fortunately, Arya understood what he was trying to say. "Oh, Eragon," she uttered before pulling him into an embrace. "I'm so sorry."

"I didn't know where else to go," Eragon admitted softly as he held Arya tightly, like she was the only thing in the world that mattered. "I'm so scared," he admitted even more quietly.

"It's okay, I'm here now," murmured Arya. How ironic it was, she thought. Only a few months ago, Eragon had held her as she mourned the loss of Faolin; now their positions were flipped.

Before long, Eragon felt himself being led towards the living room, where Arya pulled him down onto the couch. Gently, Arya held Eragon against herself, cradling his head in her arms. For several long moments, the pair sat like that, silent and unmoving. Finally, Arya leaned down and whispered in Eragon's ear, "It's okay to let it out. I'll be right here the whole time. You don't have to hold it in anymore."

At first, Eragon did not respond. He felt that he needed to be strong in front of Arya, to not break down. However, Arya continued to cradle his head, gently combing his hair with her fingers. Slowly, Eragon felt his walls begin to crumble and tears started to fall from his eyes.

"Why did it have to be Uncle?" Eragon murmured. "He didn't deserve this."

"I don't know, baby," sighed Arya as she pulled his head onto her lap.

"What am I gonna do without him?" sobbed Eragon as the torrent of tears began, unable to be held back any longer.

"I don't know," repeated Arya once again, continuing to cradle Eragon's head until he gave into his exhaustion and succumbed to sleep.

Two hours later, Eragon and Arya were in the same positions. Eragon was still in a deep, yet fitful, sleep. Arya had watched over him with worry and concern; she didn't know what was going to happen to him without a legal guardian.

Suddenly, she heard a phone ring, coming from Eragon's pocket. Not wanting to wake Eragon up unnecessarily, she took out the phone and checked the screen. Roran.

Hesitantly, she answered it. "Hello?"

"Is this Arya?" asked Roran in a strained voice. "Do you know where Eragon is?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping on my couch right now," she replied softly to prevent any disturbances to Eragon.

"Well, can you wake him up? I need to talk to him. It's urgent," demanded Roran impatiently.

Sighing, Arya replied, "Sure. Just a sec." With that, she pulled the phone away and gently stroked Eragon's messy hair.

"Hey Eragon, can you wake up? Your cousin needs to talk to you."

Slowly, Eragon shook his head and sat back up, the confusion of sleep still apparent in his eyes. He took the phone from Arya with a small smile and began to talk to Roran.

"Yeah... Are you serious?... I'll be right over."

With that, he hung up and turned to Arya. "I gotta get going. The cops want to talk to us about my uncle."

"What for?" Arya asked concernedly.

Sensing her worry, Eragon turned and looked her in the eyes. "I'm not sure. But I'll be fine." Then, taking her head in his hands, he continued, "Thank you for being here. I love you."

He planted a soft kiss on her lips and headed towards the door, bound for the police station...

* * *

><p>"I am very sorry for your loss," spoke Lieutenant Vrael of the Ilirea Police Department. "Garrow was a good man."<p>

"Thank you, sir," replied Eragon gruffly. He hated these pleasantries; he wanted to know the real reason why he and Roran had been called to the police station.

"You're probably wondering why in the world I called you both here," continued Vrael, as if he had read Eragon's mind. "I need to ask a couple questions regarding the last couple days."

"Of course, sir," replied Roran dutifully.

"Did your uncle seem different in the last few days? Any noticeable changes in behavior?" Vrael inquired.

"No, sir. Everything was normal. He is - was - taking more shifts at the factory ever since he got laid off at his other job."

"I see. Now, did your uncle have any enemies?" questioned Vrael.

Suspicion soon overcame Eragon's judgment. "Enemies? What are you talking about? I thought the explosion was just an accident!" he exclaimed.

"That was an initial assessment. It is the department's official policy to explore all possible leads. I am merely following up on some evidence that supported the idea of a possible homicide-" continued Vrael, digging his hole even deeper.

"Homicide!" shouted Roran. "Somebody murdered my dad?"

Vrael sighed. "That is what I am trying to determine. Now, did your father have any enemies, anybody that might have wanted to hurt him?"

Roran shook his head angrily. "No, none at all. He always worked hard, kept his head down."

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation," concluded Vrael as he stood up to usher the boys out of the room. "And once again, I am truly sorry for your loss. Garrow was a good man."

* * *

><p>"We now commit his body to the ground...<p>

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

Gray, dull light filtered through the overcast sky above, lending a dreary mood to the already tragic situation.

Eragon watched the scene unfold before him. In front of him lay Garrow's coffin, next to the grave that had already been dug. The priest was finishing up his last words. Soon after, the coffin was lowered into the grave.

Several days had passed since Garrow's death, but in that time, the situation still seemed completely surreal to Eragon. Only a few days ago, he had been alive, talking to Eragon. But it had all changed so fast. He never even got the chance to say goodbye.

Now, as he watched Garrow's body being lowered into the ground, a sense of finality began to set in. He could not cry, for he had no tears left to cry. Next to him, Arya squeezed his hand, offering her support in whatever way she could. On his other side stood Roran, an angry and confused look on his face.

Soon, dirt began to be piled onto the casket. Realizing that this was his last opportunity, Eragon finally gathered the courage to utter the one word he had been holding back since Garrow died.

"Goodbye."

With that, Eragon turned away from the funeral, walking away with Arya's hand entwined within his own. Suddenly, he heard a voice call his name from behind him, a voice that sounded eerily familiar.

"Eragon."

Spinning around, Eragon's eyes widened in shock as he saw the man that would change his life forever.

There stood his dead father, Brom.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello once again, faithful readers. I am very sorry for the extended hiatus. This chapter was extremely difficult for me to write, and I hope it is up to par. However, now that I have gotten this chapter out of the way, I hope to upload another chapter very soon. I apologize for the abrupt cliffhanger, but this cliffhanger will drive a lot of plot events in future chapters.<strong>

**Once again, thank you for reading. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please leave me a review! Until next time...**

**-Dagibsta**


	23. Chapter 22: New Beginnings

**Chapter 22: New Beginnings**

* * *

><p><em>Previously...<em>

_Despite the best efforts of the doctors, the flatline tone of the monitor continued. Tears had begun to form in Eragon's eyes when he finally heard a doctor say, "Call it. Time of death, 5:19 a.m."_

_"No." Eragon shook his head in disbelief. This wasn't real. In a few moments he would wake up from the nightmare to find his uncle alive and awake._

_Uncle Garrow is dead. This one, single thought consumed Eragon's mind. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he couldn't get the thought out of his head._

_..._

_Soon, dirt began to be piled onto the casket. Realizing that this was his last opportunity, Eragon finally gathered the courage to utter the one word he had been holding back since Garrow died._

_"Goodbye."_

_With that, Eragon turned away from the funeral, walking away with Arya's hand entwined within his own. Suddenly, he heard a voice call his name from behind him, a voice that sounded eerily familiar._

_"Eragon."_

_Spinning around, Eragon's eyes widened in shock as he saw the man that would change his life forever._

_There stood his dead father, Brom._

* * *

><p>Eragon could not believe his eyes. His father, who had died in a car accident over 13 years ago, was standing in front of him, at his uncle's funeral of all places, in the same cemetery where he was supposedly buried. "I've finally lost it," he muttered to himself as he ran a hand through his hair. Then, he turned to walk away from the hallucination.<p>

Suddenly, he felt Arya's hand, still entwined within his own, pulling him back.

"Who is that?" she asked him in an urgent tone, a concerned look on her face.

"You can see him too?" he asked her, the pain and anxiety in his eyes growing with each passing second.

"Of course I can see him," replied Arya uncertainly. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"Because I am supposed to be dead," a deep, gruff voice interrupted. Brom walked up to the couple and introduced himself. "My name is Brom, and I am Eragon's father." He wore a tailored Armani suit, complete with a sapphire blue, silk tie. On his wrist lay a silver Omega watch, easily worth a few thousand dollars. In all, he presented an image that reeked of wealth. His short, styled, chocolate brown hair was a mirror image of Eragon's, as was his long, angular face.

Shock began to dawn upon Eragon once more as he struggled to formulate a response. "How... How are you here? I watched them bury your casket!" he stuttered.

"I know none of this makes sense right now, but I need you to trust me," urged Brom.

"Where have you been for the last 13 years? I needed you!" exploded Eragon.

Brom gave a frustrated sigh. "I know you have so many questions. And I promise to answer as much as I can. But not here, not now. So if you want answers, you and Roran need to come with me."

With that, he grabbed Eragon's upper arm and guided him away from the scene. "Excuse us, Ms. Drottning," he nodded politely to Arya as he pulled Eragon away from her. It wasn't until the pair had disappeared that Arya wondered how Brom knew who she was...

* * *

><p>"I'm your new legal guardian," stated Brom matter-of-factly.<p>

"Like hell you are!" shouted Roran, jumping up from his seat at the kitchen table.

After leaving Arya, Brom and Eragon had found Roran, still mourning at the graveside of his father. Taking advantage of the shock and confusion of the cousins, Brom had quickly led them to his car. After a short car ride, they had arrived back at their home, or Garrow's home, as they now thought of it.

Once inside, Brom had finally succumbed to the endless torrent of questions from Roran and Eragon.

"Why did you even bother to come back at all? I mean, you've abandoned us for 13 years. It's not like we can't take care of ourselves," retorted Eragon, lashing out for the first time since Garrow's death.

"Shut your mouth, boy! You have no idea why I did what I did," exclaimed Brom angrily, slamming his hand against the surface of the table and creating a resounding CRACK!

"Then why did you?" asked Roran cheekily. "Fake your own death, I mean."

Brom sighed and slumped forward in his seat, as if he was straining under the weight of a tremendous burden. "I did it to protect Eragon," he murmured softly, a complete change in tone from a few moments earlier. His eyes shown with regret and pain underneath the soft glow of the lamp above his head.

Despite this regretful and conciliatory attitude, Eragon was not swayed. "You are just a real hero, aren't you?" remarked Eragon sarcastically, with a bitter cold undertone running throughhis voice.

Sensing this suppressed anger, Brom attempted to appease his teenage son. "Eragon, I know you hate me for what I've done. But like it or not, I'm still your father, and everything I've done has been for you-"

"BUT YOU'RE NOT!" Eragon suddenly exploded, cutting off Brom's apology. "You're not my father! My father is Garrow! My father died while working to support me, just so I could live my dreams!"

"Eragon-" Brom attempted to mitigate the damage already done, but Eragon was not finished.

"Garrow was the one who raised me! He was the one who taught me what it meant to be a man! He was the one cheering me on at my games! He was the one who sacrificed everything! And where were you during all of this?"

Eragon finally finished his rant, his breaths coming in huge gasps after his explosion. As he caught his breath, he turned to Brom one last time.

"So don't come in here, trying to be my father and acting like nothing's happened." With that, Eragon turned around, headed for the door, but paused for a moment as he heard Brom's voice from the kitchen.

"This is much bigger than you or I, Eragon. It always has been. When you're ready to listen, I'll be right here, waiting."

Unwilling to hear anymore, Eragon grabbed his jacket and stormed out the door, headed to his truck. Within seconds, he slammed the keys into the ignition and sped out of the driveway, headed for the one place that he knew would help to clear his head.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, he had arrived at his destination: the school. It was 9:00 in the evening, and the pitch black night was made even darker by the clouds covering the sky. Slowly, Eragon trudged up to the doors of the school, his ragged breaths visible in the chill night air.<p>

Once inside, Eragon headed to the gym and, reminiscent of his decision to join the basketball team, began to shoot around. This time, however, he was not concerned with some insignificant decision to play ball. Instead, he was consumed with grief over his uncle's death and the reappearance of his late father.

For close to an hour, he continued to shoot around; however, he was not experiencing much success. Eragon was a highly emotional player, and his emotions often affected his playing ability. In the state of emotional turmoil that Eragon was going through, he had a difficult time in getting the ball to go through the hoop.

Finally, Eragon decided to rest. He slouched down in one of the chairs on the bench, resting his forearms on his thighs and bowing his head in exhaustion. Suddenly, he heard the distinct and unmistakable sound of wheels turning on the wood floor of the gym.

Looking up, Eragon was unsurprised to see Coach Oromis crossing the gym towards him. "Couldn't sleep?" quipped Oromis has he stopped in front of his star player.

Eragon shook his head slightly, but offered no elaboration. Several seconds passed in silence before Oromis spoke again. "What's wrong, Eragon?"

Eragon chuckled darkly. "You mean besides the fact that my uncle is dead?"

Oromis sighed. "Yes, besides that. I know you, Eragon, and I can tell when you are hiding something. So do you want to talk about it, or would you prefer to keep wallowing in self-pity?"

Once again, Eragon kept silent, staring at a spot on the floor. After twenty seconds, he spoke at last. "My dad is alive." This single statement lacked the enmity and venom that he had exhibited earlier; all that remained was vulnerability and confusion.

"I know," replied Oromis firmly yet softly.

Immediately, Eragon's head snapped up to glare at Oromis, the unspoken question of _How? _apparent in his brown eyes.

Oromis picked up the basketball laying next to Eragon's feet, and began to twirl it on his fingers, before finally proceeding with a explanation of his mysterious statement. "I was good friends with your parents. Brom and Selena."

"But how do you know that Brom is alive?" Eragon continued, eager and yet anxious to receive an answer.

Sighing, Oromis looked Eragon in the eyes, only to shift his gaze, disconcerted by the betrayal he saw there. "I was there the night of the accident. The night your mom lost her life."

Speechless, Eragon continued to stare at the old man, as if his life depended on it.

"I was in the car with your parents. And I watched as..." At this point, Oromis paused, overcome with emotion. Slowly, a lone tear traced its way down his cheek. Eventually, as he gathered enough control, he finished his thought. "I watched as the life faded from her eyes."

This became too much for Eragon. He stood up and took a couple steps away from the paraplegic, turning his back on this new revelation.

"That's why I am paralyzed," Oromis continued, spinning his wheelchair and following after Eragon. "My spinal cord was torn, and I lost all feeling below the waist."

"That still doesn't explain how you knew that Brom is alive."

"Because I was the one who convinced him to leave you," admitted Oromis guiltily.

"Why... How... How could you do that to me? I trusted you!" Eragon stammered as he began to comprehend the implications of Oromis's confession.

"The car crash was no accident," stated Oromis bluntly. "The car didn't skid on some patch of black ice. No, your mother was murdered. And the people who killed her also wanted your father dead."

Eragon immediately resorted to denial in order to deal with the truth. "Just... Stop! Stop lying! I know you're making this up! Just shut up!"

Oromis sighed. "The truth is still the truth, regardless of whether you believe it is." He let that statement sink in before continuing with his explanation.

"As long as Brom was alive, those men would never leave him alone. He would be hunted, and inevitably, you would get caught in the crosshairs. And so, Brom had to die. With the help of Lieutenant Vrael, we were able to fake his death. You were sent to live with Garrow and Marian, and were able to live a normal childhood, free of violence and murder," Oromis concluded.

"And who were these mysterious men? The ones that killed my mom and are so dangerous that my father was forced to abandon me?" asked Eragon angrily.

"That's a question for Brom," replied Oromis, evading the question. "But Eragon, please give the man a break. Although it might not seem like it, he really does love you. He never wanted to leave in the first place. But he stayed away so you would be safe."

Eragon did not respond. He merely nodded curtly and walked out of the gym, leaving Oromis alone with his thoughts.

* * *

><p>"I'm giving you one chance. That's it. I want to know everything," demanded Eragon as soon as he walked into the room. Brom, who had been talking quietly on the phone, immediately hung up. He nodded in acceptance and pulled out his car keys from his jacket pocket.<p>

"Let's take a ride," he replied, motioning towards the driveway.

Within minutes, the two were sitting in the trimmed leather seats of Brom's BMW, speeding down the highway, neither one speaking to the other.

Finally, Brom decided to break the silence. "This city is dying."

Eragon, confused yet again, looked at him with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "What are you talking about?" he asked exasperatingly.

"Ilirea. Ilirea is dying," elaborated Brom. "It's being overrun with crime, with corruption, with violence, with oppression. The city is dying, and the people are unable to do a single thing."

Eragon, shocked into silence, did respond, so Brom continued.

"Ever heard of Galbatorix?" Brom asked.

"Galbatorix? You mean, the CEO of Empire?" confirmed Eragon.

"The very same. But he is much more than a mere CEO. No, he is the black tyrant of this city," warned Brom forebodingly. "He is the one who is destroying this city."

Eragon looked out the window, digesting this new information. The car was cruising along the highway, headed downtown.

Remaining silent, he allowed Brom to finish his tale. "He and his private army of mercenaries are responsible for the deaths of hundreds in Ilirea. Including your mother's."

"What do you mean? How did she get involved?" Eragon demanded, sitting up straight in his seat.

"Your mother was a complicated person. I loved her so much, but she led a difficult life," Brom broke off, as if reminiscing on past events. Shaking his head, he refocused and continued. "Together, we took a stand against Galbatorix. We fought, we did everything we could to limit his influence and power. But it just wasn't enough."

"Galbatorix would not stand for our opposition. Many times, he tried to have us assassinated. And one night, he succeeded. His assassins, the infamous Ra'zac, staged the car wreck that killed Selena. But they failed to kill me."

"I knew that they would try again, that Galbatorix would not let me live. And I also knew that eventually, you would be drawn into this, that you would be hurt as well. But if I died, that all went away. You would be safe, able to live a normal childhood. So I left."

Finally, Brom concluded and glanced over at his son to see his reaction.

"So why did you come back now? Doesn't that put me in danger again?" countered Eragon, playing devil's advocate and staring defiantly back at Brom.

Brom sighed, but replied in a bold and loud voice. "I came back because it is time for you to know who you are, what your legacy and inheritance are. It is time for you to realize that you are part of something much bigger, much more important than just a high school basketball team. It is time for you to become who you were meant to be."

Brom finished his short speech and fell silent as they stopped in front of a massive skyscraper. Motioning to Eragon, they both got out of the car and Brom threw his keys to a valet, who promptly drove the car away.

"Where are you taking me now?" asked Eragon, glancing up at the enormous structure that towered above him. Brom walked up to the front doors and held them open, gesturing for Eragon to enter.

"This," he said dramatically, "is The Varden."

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, I only made you guys wait a week for the update! It's a miracle! Anyway, I hope this chapter answers a lot of questions that the cliffhanger last chapter brought up. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please review! The more reviews I get, the more motivation I have to update faster...<strong>


	24. Chapter 23: Revelations

Chapter 23: Revelations

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><p><em>Previously...<em>

_"Who is that?" she asked him in an urgent tone, a concerned look on her face._

_"You can see him too?" he asked her, the pain and anxiety in his eyes growing with each passing second._

_"Of course I can see him," replied Arya uncertainly. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"_

_"Because I am supposed to be dead," a deep, gruff voice interrupted. Brom walked up to the couple and introduced himself. "My name is Brom, and I am Eragon's father."_

_Shock began to dawn upon Eragon once more as he struggled to formulate a response. "How... How are you here? I watched them bury your casket!" he stuttered._

_"I know none of this makes sense right now, but I need you to trust me," urged Brom._

_"Where have you been for the last 13 years? I needed you!" exploded Eragon._

_..._

_"Ilirea. Ilirea is dying," elaborated Brom. "It's being overrun with crime, with corruption, with violence, with oppression. The city is dying, and the people are unable to do a single thing. They are oppressed by Galbatorix, the black tyrant of Ilirea. He is killing this city, and he is responsible for the murders of hundreds, including your mother."_

_"Where are you taking me now?" asked Eragon._

_"This," Brom said dramatically, "is The Varden."_

* * *

><p>Eragon stepped through the frosted glass doors of the Varden, avoiding eye contact with his father. The opaqueness of the 10 foot tall glass doors lent an air of mystery and secrecy to the already tense situation.<p>

As Eragon took a few steps farther into the lobby of the building, he was immediately bathed in a red, ruby glow. Glancing around, he tried to ascertain the source of the unnatural light. Finally, he craned his head directly above him and squinted at the top of the skyscraper. There, part of the ceiling hundreds of feet above his head, lay a blood red surface, made of glass or some other material.

Eragon was startled out of his reverie by the sound of chuckling next to him. Turning sharply, Eragon found Brom standing next to him, laughing at his reaction to the architecture.

"We call it the Isidar Mithrim. It's a gift from Beor Corp. As is the rest of the building," explained Brom, opening his arms and gesturing all around him.

Eragon's jaw fell open once again as he was left to gape at the astounding architecture of the rest of the structure. It was a perfect combination of old and new, classical romantic architecture with modern features. Columned arches surrounded him on every side, constructed out of stone. However, intertwined with the stone was plenty of metal, blending fluidly in with the earthen tones. Light also flowed in through the numerous windows, placed liberally throughout the structure as it spiraled upwards towards its peak.

"Come on, boy," interrupted Brom gruffly. He grabbed Eragon by his elbow and dragged him across the length of the lobby. Annoyed, Eragon shook off his father's hand, but continued to follow him. Soon, they arrived at a set of elevators. Stepping in, Eragon was pleased to discover that the entire elevator was constructed of transparent glass, allowing him to peer out at the rest of the building as they ascended. Brom quickly jammed the button for the 50th floor, and the elevator shot off.

Eragon continued to inspect the architecture as they rose. Such architecture seeming physically impossible from an engineering perspective, and yet he saw proof of how it was possible.

Moments passed as the ground continued to get smaller and smaller. Suddenly, the view of the ground was cut off by a red substance: the elevator had seemingly reached the Isidar Mithrim. But it did not stop there. Seconds later, the elevator came to a halt, and Eragon stepped cautiously out. He looked at the ground beneath him and was shocked to see the ruby-like gem underneath his sneakers. Above him, starlight shone in through a glass ceiling and streamed through the orifices of the gem.

When he looked up, he found Brom, as always, standing in front of him, waiting patiently for him to follow. With a scowl, Eragon did just that. Brom led him across the ruby floor to a corner office. As Brom took a seat at the desk in the office, Eragon stepped over to the window and peered out at the city of Ilirea. Bright lights illuminated much, from the individual cars, small as ants on the streets below, to the massive skyscrapers of East Ilirea that towered above even the tower of the Varden.

"Nice view, huh?" spoke Brom, trying to initiate a conversation.

Eragon, not in the mood for pleasantries, cut straight to the chase. "Why am I here?" he demanded bluntly.

Brom leaned back in his chair, pondering the question. He twirled a sapphire ring around his ring finger, seemingly lost in thought. Finally, he answered. "On the surface, the Varden is an import/export business. Our two major business partners are the defense contractor, Beor Corporation, with whom we share this building, and Du Weldenvarden. I believe you have met the CEO of Du Weldenvarden: Islanzadi," Brom explained.

Eragon was silent for a moment. He kept his gaze centered on the streets below, his eyes shifting from one set of headlights to another. After a while, he lifted his gaze to meet Brom's eyes. "You said the Varden is a business _on the surface. _What is it beneath the surface?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Brom flashed a mischievous smile. "Simply put, we are the resistance. We are the only thing that stands between Galbatorix and complete control of this city. We do whatever we can to protect the people of this city, and to thwart the plans of Empire."

"So you're a bunch of vigilantes?" confirmed Eragon in disbelief. "This just keeps getting better and better," he muttered to himself.

"If you had seen some of the terrible things that Galbatorix has done, you would not be so quick to judge," shot back Brom defensively.

"Oh, please, enlighten me, master," mocked Eragon with a sneer. "Please justify your criminal behavior."

Brom did not take the bait; instead, he sighed and paused before embarking on his explanation. "Years ago, this city was ruled by a group of great men. They were strong and powerful, but they were also wise and sympathetic to the needs of the people. Together, they formed the Council of Skulblaka. At the time, Galbatorix was just a young hot shot, gunning for more political power. He and his partner, Jarnunvosk, were extremely popular. They had graduated from Vroengard University and were determined to take the world by storm. And then one day, it all went wrong. Jarnunvosk was accidentally killed in a driveby shooting between rival Urgal gangs."

"Galbatorix descended into madness. He was determined to enact revenge for Jarnunvosk's death. For a year, he disappeared. When he finally returned, he was followed by the Forsworn. Together, they eliminated hundreds of political opponents, including the entire Council of Skulblaka. They would drag entire families out into the night, never to be seen again. He has killed hundreds, Eragon, and he won't stop. He can't stop; it's a part of who he is now." Brom finally concluded his speech, his eyes silently conveying the grim nature of the situation.

"Why does this matter to me?" questioned Eragon obstinately. "I'm just a teenage kid, trying to survive high school. This isn't my problem!"

Brom smiled grimly and shook his head. "You're wrong, my son. This is your prob-"

He was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door of the office. "Come in," spoke Brom. The door opened slowly to reveal a tall, heavy set man with dark skin. Like Brom, he wore an expensive suit and silk tie.

"Principal Ajihad?" Eragon gasped in disbelief. Nasuada's dad, the principal of his high school, was somehow involved in this entire conundrum. With his expensive choice in clothing, he looked every bit the part of the consummate businessman, cutthroat and conniving.

"It seems you have met," remarked Brom innocently, although the mischievous smirk on his face conveyed the exact opposite message. "Eragon, I would like to introduce you to Ajihad. In addition to being the principal of West Ilirea High School, he is also the chairman of the board of directors of the Varden."

Eragon was shocked into speechlessness. How deep did this conspiracy run? His dad, Islanzadi, Oromis, and now Ajihad. Who else knew?

Controlling his inner turmoil, Eragon ignored the entrance of Ajihad and turned his attention back to Brom. "You still haven't answered my original question," Eragon said with annoyance. "Why. Am. I. Here?" he demanded.

"I believe I can answer that question," interjected Ajihad suddenly. "The reason your father brought you here tonight is because he wants you to come into your inheritance," he explained. Seeing a confused look from Eragon, Ajihad specified. "We want you to help you lead the Varden."

"Are you out of your mind?" Eragon exclaimed suddenly, beginning to chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. "I'm a 16 year old kid, I haven't even graduated from high school yet. And you expect me to run a multi million dollar corporation?"

Brom looked completely serious, however. "Yes. That is the general idea. I admit, it is rather unorthodox for a teenager to lead a company, but if anyone can do it, it would be you, Eragon."

Eragon shook his head, and began pacing across the floor of the office. "Why in the world would you even _want_ me to do this anyway? Why can't you do it?" he questioned Brom.

"Obviously, I can't lead because I died 13 years ago. It would be a little suspicious if a dead man returned from the grave," explained Brom. "As for why it has to be you, that is simple. The people will follow you. They look up to you, they admire you. And that is what this city needs: a leader to follow in the war that will inevitably occur."

"War?" exclaimed Eragon once again. "This is too much. I'm done. Please take me home, it's late and I have school tomorrow," he concluded curtly, leaving no room for argument.

Brom sighed. There was no way he was going to change his son's mind tonight. Only time would do that. Begrudgingly, he got up from his chair and nodded. "Okay. All I ask is that you consider the offer."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Harry awoke suddenly to the blaring of his alarm clock. Yawning, he struggled to get out of bed. He had fallen asleep instantly last night, exhausted by the emotional turmoil he had endured due to his uncle's death. However, he was still running on fumes after only sleeping for 4 hours.<p>

His rough morning foreshadowed a tough day to come. At 7:00, he and Roran clambered into their truck and drove off to school. It was only the day after Garrow's funeral, but they both felt the need to reestablish a normal routine; self pity would not help anything. They would never, ever forget Garrow, but they both knew they needed to move on with their lives.

Eragon soon realized that this was easier said than done.

As soon as he stumbled in the doors leading to the parking lot, he realized that everything had changed. Kids stole glances at him as he passed in the hallways, glances of pity. This annoyed Eragon to no end; he just wanted to be left alone.

Finally, he passed through the crowds and saw his group of friends, huddled in a group, talking. No sooner had he seen them than the memories of his conversation with Brom resurfaced. How much did his friends know about the Varden and Galbatorix that they weren't telling them? Nasuada's father was even the chairman on the board of directors. She had to know. Once he realized this, a new question formed in his mind. Could he trust any of them?

With this new resolution, he finally approached the group.

"Hey Eragon!" greeted Nasuada cheerfully, trying to seemingly make Eragon forget the fact that his uncle had just died. Eragon, with his new paranoia, saw straight through her attempts.

"Hey," replied Eragon coldly. Saphira, who stood nearest to him, eyed him with suspicion.

"What's wrong?" Saphira prodded, sensing something was amiss.

"Well, I did just bury my uncle yesterday," excused Eragon with contempt and sarcasm apparent in his voice.

Saphira continued to stare him down, analyzing his behavior.

"We will talk later," she replied. Eragon sighed. Saphira was his best friend and she knew him better than anyone else. Which meant she knew when he was hiding something.

Luckily, Eragon was spared from the interrogation by the sudden ringing of the bell. "I'll see you guys later," was all he said to his friends as he turned around and walked towards his next class.

The rest of the school day passed in a similar manner. His friends in various classes would all try to initiate a conversation, only to be shut down by Eragon's aloofness and apathy.

_I understand now why Arya acted the way she did after Faolin's death, _mused Eragon grimly as he headed to the last class of the day: art. She had acted very similarly to Eragon: not wanting to interact with anyone at all. It had taken all of Eragon's considerable patience to get her to open up to him. He realized that with their positions flipped, Arya would likely try the same tactic on him. Sighing, he accepted his fate and headed into the art room.

Immediately, he spotted Arya and headed over to her. When she saw him, she flashed him a small smile and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I haven't seen you all day," she muttered into his shoulder.

"I know. I'm sorry," whispered Eragon back. He had been so wrapped in his feelings that he hadn't seen her at all since the funeral the previous day. He wasn't necessarily avoiding her, per say, but he just didn't have the energy to go seek her out.

The couple was pulled from their embrace by the class bell, signaling the beginning of the period. Quickly, they took their seats and pretended to listen to the lecture of Mr. Solembum. Soon enough, he dismissed them to work on a project, at which point Arya began questioning Eragon.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on with your dad?" she inquired.

Eragon kept his eyes glued on his paper. "I don't really know," he admitted. "I'm so confused right now."

Arya didn't fall for his deception. "Eragon, you know you can tell me anything, right?" she said softly.

He finally looked at her, drawn in by her sparkling emerald eyes. He was so tempted to tell her everything. But then, his feelings of paranoia and distrust soon resurfaced, and he knew he couldn't tell her. So he merely nodded in response and said, "I know."

"So why won't you talk to me? I can tell you're hiding something," she insisted.

"Just stop, okay?" he said suddenly, in a much sharper tone than he intended. Immediately, he saw the hurt on her face and he instantly regretted his reaction.

"Okay. I get it," replied Arya coldly, returning to her own work.

"Arya," Eragon said, trying to apologize. When she didn't respond, he softly grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at him. "Arya, I'm sorry. It's just... I don't know what's going on. Everything is so crazy right now. I want to tell you, but I can't! I need to figure some things out on my own first, and then I promise I will tell you everything."

Arya's glare softened somewhat, but her anger was still apparent. "You promise?" she asked.

"I promise," Eragon confirmed. Arya nodded, satisfied for the present. The two went back to work on their projects, maintaining a silence between them. Eragon had apologized for his behavior, but it was obvious that Arya had not yet forgiven him...

* * *

><p>"Okay, we are done for tonight!" yelled Coach Oromis. "No more sprints!"<p>

The exhausted players sighed in relief as they struggled to breathe after dozens of sprints.

"Next game is on Friday night, here against Feinster. Start preparing mentally now," advised Oromis. "That's all I got. Now get out of here!"

Gratefully, the varsity players stumbled out of the gym towards the locker room. Eragon followed behind slowly. Practice had been horrible for him. Usually, his emotions affected his playing either positively or negatively. When he was upset with another player, he usually played fabulously. When he was fighting with Arya, his playing suffered. Today, however, had been different. He had no emotions to affect him. He was just numb.

The passion that he usually played with was conspicuously absent, and everyone noticed. As he sat down at his locker to get changed, he was interrupted by Oromis' voice.

"Eragon, can I speak with you in my office?" Oromis asked.

Sighing, Eragon nodded and stood up. He knew he was going to get a lecture for his performance today.

"Close the door," instructed the coach as Eragon walked into the office. _Oh boy, _thought Eragon as he complied and closed the door.

"I know what you're thinking," began Oromis. "You're here because of your poor performance on the court today, and I'm going to tell you to get it together. But that's not why you're here," he concluded.

Surprised, Eragon looked up. "You're here because there's something you need to see, and you're not going to like it," explained Oromis. With that, he opened his laptop and turned it so Eragon could see a video playing. It was footage of a game at East Ilirea High.

"Look at number 5," instructed Oromis. Doing so, Eragon's eyes widened in shock. The player was amazing, driving past defenders and hitting jumpshots like it was nothing. As he squinted at the screen, his stomach dropped as he saw the face of the player.

It was Murtagh.

Clenching his fists, Eragon backed away from the screen. He had known from the start that something was fishy with Murtagh moving away so quickly. And now, his suspicions were confirmed. Murtagh was playing for their rivals, East Ilirea, in the backyard of Empire.

Suddenly, an epiphany came to Eragon. He knew where Murtagh's dad had been transferred. He was working for Galbatorix.

Without another word, Eragon turned around and walked out of the office, and continued out of the locker room. He knew what he needed to do.

Brom and Ajihad were sitting in the corner office at the top of Tronjheim Building, headquarters of the Varden and Beor Corp, as they flipped through a stack of documents.

Without warning, the door suddenly flew open. There stood Eragon, a grim yet determined look on his face. Only two words left his mouth as explanation for his sudden arrival.

"I'm in."

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><p><strong>Hey guys, sorry for the little wait. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed or followed this story. A couple of you have had concerns about Saphira, and rightly so. She will have a much larger role in the story coming up.<strong>

**Please review and let me know what you think about where the story is headed now. And thanks for reading!**


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